Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
After two races, the perfect season bid is over for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Ferrari swept through to Melbourne victory as the brakes burned on the RB20. Mercedes had a weekend to forget. Fernando Alonso received a penalty. The MotoE season started in Portugal, who knew? MotoGP has a new, young stud Where is Brodie Kostecki? NASCAR's track limit rules are ridiculous. Álex Palou won $500,000, so it was a good weekend for Spaniards, but there was one question on my mind.
Does the Money Matter?
IndyCar's big prize for the Thermal Club race winner was about half short of what was being sold, but regardless over whether it was $500,000 or $1 million, does the money matter?
Money, of course, matters. These teams aren't competing for nothing. IndyCar isn't a charity. These people make their living in the series. We all have a price that we roll out of bed for. After all, our bills are not going to pay themselves, but is a large prize on offer for the winner of an event enough to get an expanded audience to tune in when otherwise there would be no interest?
We care when the Powerball or Mega Millions lotteries are a big prize. Any lottery is great to win. It is particularly nice when it is a large jackpot. Tonight's Powerball draw is for $800 million. Tuesday's Mega Millions draw is for $1.1 billion.
The money matters.
But does it matter for IndyCar, specifically for an exhibition race at a venue with no competitive motorsports history that most racing fans didn't know existed until last year?
There is a greater identity issue for IndyCar beyond being known for large purses. If people aren't watching now, is a $1 million prize really going to change their mind, especially when $1 million isn't as sexy as it once was.
At the turn of the 21st century, it might draw some attention, but NASCAR has been paying $1 million for its All-Star Race winner since 2003. In 2024, that isn't as big of a pull for NASCAR's All-Star Race as it was in 2003 or 2004. The Marlboro Challenge paid $1 million if a driver won it along with the Meadowlands and Michigan races during the season. That is late-1980s/early-1990s money. A million dollars in 1991 would be around $2.278 million in 2024 money. The Thermal Club event doesn't look as wonderful in that context.
Even if Thermal Club at least matched the worth of the Marlboro Challenge, would it have mattered?
If it was $2 million, would that mean two million people would tune in? Probably not.
What if it was $5 million? Or $10 million? Would either of those draw significantly more viewers?
What is the number? Is there a number?
Consider that the Indianapolis 500 winner received $3.666 million last year. Nobody is tuning into the Indianapolis 500 for the purse, but that race has history. The payout is a nice bonus. The winner's share is not promoted beforehand. It isn't public knowledge until the banquet the following night. Even once known, it is not wildly circulated, not like it once was.
Even if all the money isn't going to the driver, and we know that is the case, it is still notable, something that was once used as a sign of prestige. In the last two decades, really since the recession over the late-2000s into the 2010s, many series have gone quiet over how much money is being handed out. IndyCar isn't alone in that boat.
Money is still something we understand. Even if a person doesn't know what the Indianapolis 500 is, if they hear the winner got over $3.6 million they would understand it is a big deal to win. Not many people earn north of $3 million for one day of work.
LIV Golf, the golf tour financial backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, pays out handsomely. It is the reason why many top golfers no longer competed in the PGA Tour full-time and only show up for the major events. Every LIV Golf events pays $25 million in prize money. The LIV Golf Team Championship final pays $50 million in prize money. Despite the amount of money being paid, LIV Golf hasn't taken over golf viewership.
Perhaps the source of the money matters, but it takes more than being a disruptor with a large bank account. LIV Golf events are not traditional golf tournaments with four days and a cut halfway through. None of the events have history that date back nearly a century or more. Most of the events take place at private courses that haven't hosted significant professional golf tournaments before. (Geez, does that sound familiar?)
For IndyCar to grow, it will need more than one weekend with a heavily promoted monetary prize, especially one that doesn't raise the blood pressure of many. However, it doesn't hurt to have a big pay day, and it can be a tentpole event that people can look forward to watching each year.
The Indianapolis 500 is the only race currently fitting that criteria. If IndyCar wants more major events, it must start treating its events like major events and treat them like major events every year. That means paying a major amount of money.
IndyCar flirts but never commits. The Triple Crown came back with a million dollar prize if anyone could sweep the 500-mile races at Indianapolis, Pocono and Fontana for two years. Then it went away.
Do you even realize the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge did not return for the 2024 season? The charitable initiative tied into the IndyCar season lasted all of two seasons. Josef Newgarden claimed the $1 million prize in 2022 with a victory on each a road course, street course and oval. No one claimed the grand prize last year as no driver won on all three track disciplines, and now it is gone.
IndyCar constantly does these bonus programs and then abandons them after a year or two. The Triple Crown, Force for Good Challenge, remember when IndyCar acknowledged the road/street course and oval champions? Everything gets a one or two-year shot, if it does shatter the world, IndyCar gives up. Crap, NASCAR's second division has been doing its "Dash For Cash" bonus program for well over a decade now and it is a regular storyline each season for the month or so it take place. Why? Because they have kept doing it for all this time.
IndyCar cannot get anything to stick, but if it wants an idea to work, it must keep doing it. Just because it hasn't become front page news across the country doesn't mean it is a waste of time. Doing something annually allows people to get attached and look forward to that event or prize. If IndyCar is treating it seriously, the fanbase will start treating it seriously. Until the series commits, nobody (fans, drivers and teams included) else will.
We have spent a lot of time over the last year looking at all the ways IndyCar hasn't taken chances. The Triple Crown isn't coming back anytime soon. Fontana is gone, and Michigan and Pocono aren't walking through that door, but if IndyCar put the chips on the table and had two large purse races in addition to the Indianapolis 500 that were also championship races, it would be likely do a better job attracting attention than what we just saw at Thermal Club.
I don't know how much is enough, but no series at the moment is promoting having three races paying at least $2 million to the winner. It would be something tangible IndyCar could promote. Hell, make it $2.5 million to the winner of two races and raise the Indianapolis 500 to $5 million for the winner, and there is a $10 million triple crown right there.
It would at least be something bold for a series that hasn't made any waves since Danica Patrick made her Indianapolis 500 debut, oh, and she isn't walking through that door either.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Álex Palou, but did you know...
Jorge Martín won MotoGP's Portuguese Grand Prix. Maverick Viñales won the sprint race. Arón Canet won the Moto2 race, his first career Moto2 victory. Danny Holgado won the Moto3 race. Nicholas Spinelli and Mattia Casadei split the MotoE races.
William Byron won the NASCAR Cup race from Austin, his second victory of the season. Kyle Larson won the Grand National Series race. Corey Heim won the Truck race.
Roman Staněk (sprint) and Isack Hadjar (feature) split the Formula Two races from Melbourne.
Broc Feeney (races one and three), Will Brown (race two) and Nick Percat (race four) split the Supercars races from Melbourne.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (race one and SuperPole race) and Álvaro Bautista (race two) split the World Superbike races from Barcelona. Adrián Huertas and Stefano Manzi split the World Supersport races.
Cooper Webb won the Supercross race from Seattle, his third career victory. Levi Kitchen won the 250cc race.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR has a night race at Richmond.
Formula E makes its first visit to Tokyo.
Supercross is in St. Louis.
Safari Rally Kenya marks round three of the World Rally Championship season.
The British GT Championship opens its season on Easter Monday at Oulton Park.
