Crash for Dixon, beers for McLaughlin
New Zealand motor-racing ace Scott Dixon was penalised after a crash which left an IndyCar rival fuming about the cost of the damage for his small team.
The incident happened during the exhibition Thermal $1 million Challenge near Palm Springs, California, yesterday when Romain Grosjean was involved in a crash on the opening lap of the first heat race.
“I mean, who is going to pay for the damage? We come here with no points on the line and do nothing wrong and the car is completely smashed,’’ Grosjean said after the accident.
“It’s not what I signed [up for] with IndyCar.’’
Shortly after the start of the first heat, Dixon ran into the back of Grosjean, causing Grosjean to spin into Rinus VeeKay, who clipped Christian Lundgaard.
Dixon, a six-time IndyCar champion, was given an avoidable contact penalty as Grosjean, who moved to IndyCar from Formula 1, seethed.
Grosjean is in his first season with Juncos Hollinger Racing — the third team in four years for Grosjean — and the tiny organisation doesn't have the same operating budget as the top IndyCar teams.
IndyCar’s first non-points race since 2008 is filling a hole in IndyCar's early-season schedule and actually only pays $500,000 because the Thermal Club members shied away from participating in the event with a matching buy-in. Club members instead were randomly paired with teams for an embedded weekend experience with an IndyCar organisation.
There was better news for Dixon’s fellow New Zealander Scott McLaughlin, who was so surprised by his payout that he pledged to shout beers for his pit crew after finishing second in the event.
The New Zealand driver thought he’d collected US$250,000 (NZ$417,500) for his podium spot but his prizemoney was actually US$100,000 (NZ$167,000) more - to the delight of McLaughlin and his Team Penske crew.
“350k for second place - you're buying dinner,’’ the team told McLaughlin on his cool-down lap.
“350k!? I thought it was 250k! I'll buy you all a beer,’’ McLaughlin laughed.
McLaughlin hosted a quick AMA (Ask Me Anything) on social media site X on his plane flight home, saying he’d had a couple of Guinness to celebrate and that he would use his share of the prizemoney to “pay off the house lol’’.
Alex Palou, the two-time and reigning IndyCar champion, won the event from McLaughlin by 5.7 seconds to capture the biggest prize of $US500,000.