The Thermal Club is taking the expression “build it and they will come” to new lengths — or, considering its elevation of 115 feet below sea level, depths.
Last February, the private club welcomed the NTT IndyCar Series for an exhibition race, dubbed The Million Dollar Challenge and shown on NBC. IndyCar has confirmed its return in 2025, this time for a points-paying, regular-season race on March 23. Fox has acquired IndyCar broadcast rights for the coming campaign.
Yet there’s more to be done for IndyCar, as proven on Tuesday, Nov. 19, a picture-perfect day as the club hosted six IndyCar teams for a private test session in anticipation of The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix.
It was all part of club CEO and founder Tim Rogers’ vision. “We’re closed Monday and Tuesday [to members], so we try to rent the track those days,” he said, sitting in a comfortable indoor lounge area while cars whooshed over the track. “It’s an extra way for us to make money. We want to make sure they have a nice track and good services.”
In other words, it leaves an opening for IndyCar, and Rogers said there may be more test sessions to come. Besides fillings the coffers, IndyCar events “add more heritage” to the club, Rogers said. It’s not so different from a golf club hosting a major professional tournament.
Rogers’ strategies and execution are paying off in myriad ways. He tabbed the total investment at $350 million. “I’ve recovered a lot of that through property sales.”
Development at The Thermal Club — which this year celebrated its 10th anniversary — has resulted in over 5 miles of racetrack and three distinct circuits: North Palm, South Palm, and Desert. Connecting portions of each one created the 3.067-mile, 19-turn course for the test, and this layout will also serve for racing in March. An even longer configuration had been considered, Rogers said, but the cars would have needed changes in fuel storage capacity.
The lounge area in which Rogers hosted reporters offers a sweeping view of the 426-acre speed estate. In one vista, a carpenter worked up high on a new roofline, the latest addition among the trackside villas. The Thermal Club also features restaurants, pools, and premium tennis courts. There are even casitas for short-term stays. Some lots are reserved for industrial operations. In November 2024, GMG Racing opened a 20,000-square-foot base within club boundaries, and here it serves arrive-and-drive customers as well as local members, including tennis great and Porsche enthusiast Pete Sampras. Nearby, a new steel frame outlined another industrial addition.
The mature palms and brightly painted track boundaries make a vivid tableau, and with the Santa Rosa Mountains seemingly within reach, the visuals are compelling for TV viewers as well as competitors.
“It’s quite surreal as a driver,” said Louis Foster, one of the six young racers who participated in the test. Unlike the others, his 70 laps were more than an audition for his team. After winning the 2024 Indy NXT development series championship, the 21-year-old signed a multiyear contract with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, moving up to the big time as a teammate of Graham Rahal and Pietro Fittipaldi.
Sitting on the low wall separating the pit road from the paddock, Foster stretched his neck right and left after the track sessions that entailed 1,330 turns in all.
The rookie said one challenge was adapting to his single-seat Dallara Honda’s hybrid propulsion system, which the IndyCar Series adopted in the middle of last season. Besides working with the team on suspension adjustments, Foster had his first experience of managing the hybrid battery’s state-of-charge for best effect. He devoted one stint to practicing fuel-saving techniques and also worked on how best to enter the pits and stop on the mark in his stall.
The latter drill is especially useful, as Foster will know exactly where to park when he and his RLL teammates return in March.
