IndyCar: Full qualifying order revealed for 2024 Thermal race

For the first time since 2008 at Surfers Paradise, IndyCar is set to run a non-championship event at The Thermal Club, which hosted preseason testing last year, this Sunday afternoon.

The format for this race around the 20-turn, 3.067-mile (4.936-kilometer) Thermal Club road course, which is located at a 300-acre private country club in Thermal, California, is a unique one. The event is deemed a "made for TV" all-star type race and is set to feature the largest IndyCar purse outside of the annual Indy 500.

A random draw on Thursday determined which drivers are set to take part in which qualifying sessions on Saturday night. These two qualifying sessions are set to solidify the starting lineups for the two 10-lap (or 20-minute) heat races, from which the top six drivers advance to the main 20-lap event.

The qualifying groups are effectively the groups for the heat races as well.

IndyCar at Thermal: Qualifying groups

Group 1

Josef Newgarden - No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet

Scott McLaughlin - No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet

Scott Dixon - No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Will Power - No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet

Santino Ferrucci - No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet

Nolan Siegel - No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda

Rinus VeeKay - No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Colton Herta - No. 26 Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian Honda

Kyle Kirkwood - No. 27 Andretti Global Honda

Sting Ray Robb - No. 41 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet

Christian Lundgaard - No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Felix Rosenqvist - No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Romain Grosjean - No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

Agustin Canapino - No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

Group 2

Kyffin Simpson - No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Pato O'Ward - No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Callum Ilott - No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Alexander Rossi - No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Linus Lundqvist - No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Alex Palou - No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Marcus Armstrong - No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Graham Rahal - No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Christian Rasmussen - No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Marcus Ericsson - No. 28 Andretti Global Honda

Pietro Fittipaldi - No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Colin Braun - No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda

Tom Blomqvist - No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

The heat race winner with the faster qualifying time is set to start the main event, which is split up until two 10-lap sprints and a halftime break, on the pole position, while the other race winner is set to lineup alongside him on the front row in second place.

The remaining odd positions (third through 11th place) are set to be filled from the polesitter's heat, while the remaining even positions (fourth through 12th) are set to be filled from the other.

Peacock is set to provide live coverage of qualifying beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 23, while NBC is set to provide live coverage of the race itself beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 24. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss the first ever $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club!