{"id":720143,"date":"2023-05-28T09:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-28T16:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/palmspringslife.com\/?p=720143"},"modified":"2024-03-07T17:18:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:18:44","slug":"ntt-indycar-series-brings-motorsports-to-the-thermal-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palmspringslife.com\/the-guide\/sports\/ntt-indycar-series-brings-motorsports-to-the-thermal-club\/","title":{"rendered":"NTT IndyCar Series Brings Motorsports to The Thermal Club"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

IndyCar will return to The Thermal Club for preseason practice in 2024.<\/strong>
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK MAUS<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

Adecade ago, paving machines crawled around The Thermal Club, laying down 5 \u00bd inches of polymerized asphalt to create a racetrack. This year, in early February, its traffic consisted of 27 needle-nosed cars from the NTT IndyCar Series. Drivers and the teams that support them brought America\u2019s premier racing league to the Coachella Valley for the first time. They gathered at the club for preseason practice \u2014 spring training, if you will, when drivers first get behind the w<\/span>heel to test out upgrades and modifications made to their cars during winter break. The 2023 season would kick off a month later in St. Petersburg, Florida.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

After a combined 2,560 laps by all drivers over two days in Thermal, the teams returned to their home bases in Indianapolis impressed with the five-star treatment. Tim Rogers, founder and owner of The Thermal Club, went home to La Quinta reaffirmed in the instincts that led him to establish one of the world\u2019s elite country club racetracks.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

\u201cYes, I feel very good,” Rogers said later in a phone interview. \u201cIt\u2019s a validation that we made a world-class facility.”<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.palmspringslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/wide1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Image” title=”Image” title_text=”Image” ][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ ]

Will Power chats with a pit wall engineer before heading onto the track.<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

All it took was a huge investment \u2014 $275 million to date \u2014 and persistence in developing the 450-acre site south of Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal. Announced last fall, the IndyCar visit put The Thermal Club on the same footing as the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and PGA West, which host the BNP Paribas Open and The American Express, respectively. A difference was the lack of a public audience to witness the cars on the 3.067-mile course. Thermal Club members and their guests watched from the balconies of their private villas that line the track, reveling in the never-before-seen backdrop of palm trees and distant mountains in connection with the open-wheel sport.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

Josef Newgarden, the Tennessean who is a two-time IndyCar season champion and full-time Adonis, gushed after the final test session, saying, \u201cI think it\u2019s a first-class facility, no doubt. Thermal really rolled out the red carpet for us. They did a tremendous job \u2014 it was a fairly flawless test.”<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

When Thermal opened, May 13, 2013, skeptics said it wasn\u2019t a real racetrack. \u201cReal” racetracks are supposed to penalize mistakes with big wrecks and lots of carnage. Indeed, as track designer Alan Wilson noted, a prime objective was to provide a generous paved runoff area, so gentleman drivers can save their precious Porsches and McLarens before making contact with a fixed object. In select locations, the wayward car departing the pavement will encounter a large sand trap to slow things down before making impact with the guardrail.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

Many famous road-racing courses twist and turn through hills, as at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where the IndyCar season will end in September. Thermal has no blind crests and nothing like Laguna\u2019s hallowed Corkscrew turn. Instead, it\u2019s dead flat and lies <\/span>135 feet below sea level. On the other hand, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is flat, and winning the lauded Indy 500 brings immortality. Thermal offers its own technical challenges with tricky dual-apex turns here and increasing-radius ones there.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

Late in the final practice session, Newgarden found the track to be \u201cunfriendly offline” when he pushed too hard in Turn 9.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

\u201cI was basically asking to spin,” he said.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” column_structure=”1_2,1_2″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.palmspringslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PSL_INDY-CAR_THERMAN-CLUB_MAUS_4134-cc.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Image” title=”Image” title_text=”Image” ][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ ]

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske called Thermal \u201can awesome little track.”<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.palmspringslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PSL_INDY-CAR_THERMAN-CLUB_MAUS_3938-cc-1.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ alt=”Image” title=”Image” title_text=”Image” ][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ ]

Simon Pagenaud previously visited The Thermal Club to film an episode of Cam Newton\u2019s 2020 video series, Iron Sharpens Iron<\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

After winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2019 \u2014 joining the pantheon of heroes who have triumphed at what is commonly referred to as \u201cthe greatest spectacle in racing” \u2014 driver Simon Pagenaud had the chance to visit The Thermal Club while filming a guest spot on a video series.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

The Frenchman reminisced on his path to IndyCar ahead of practice during mandatory media days at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The son of a grocer in Montmorillon, a commune some 250 miles southwest of Paris, Pagenaud self-financed his early races by opening a driving school at the local circuit and selling seat time to his father\u2019s business associates. \u201cActually, I was on a project in France to build something similar [to The Thermal Club]. Had the backing, but my career took off,” he shared, admitting enduring Thermalistic visions for the future.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″ text_font=”|400|||||||”]

From the very beginning, Rogers aimed the residential club at people who could helicopter over from Orange County or blaze their Gulfstreams onto the neighboring airport\u2019s 8,500-foot strip. They would forget all their administrative duties and M&A hassles while blasting around \u201cprivate pavement.” More than 5 miles of track translates to several course configurations; a delectable side dish is the 1.1-mile karting track. \u201cWe could have professional kart races here if it\u2019s something the members would like,” Rogers said. There\u2019s also exclusive space for the BMW Performance Center West to instruct and entertain clients of the Bavarian brand.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”1″ _module_preset=”default” ][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”1″]

\u201cIt\u2019s a first-class facility, no doubt. Thermal really rolled out the red carpet.”<\/div>