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By John Oreovicz for the Feb/Mar 2024 issue of Vintage Motorsport
The NTT IndyCar Series’ creation of the $1 Million Challenge – a made-for-television, in-season, non-points exhibition race set for March 22-24 at The Thermal Club near Palm Springs, Calif. – certainly created a talking point for the sport’s fanbase. It also stirred memories of the last time Indy car racing put up a non-points, big cash jackpot in an attempt to increase awareness and excitement. No, not the stillborn Hawaiian Super Prix set for November 1999, but the Marlboro Challenge, founded on much firmer footing.
It was not without controversy. Emerson Fittipaldi is credited with attracting Philip Morris USA into the CART series in 1986, first to sponsor his car fielded by Patrick Racing. Within a year, the tobacco giant was all-in. A week before the start of the ’87 season, CART CEO John Frasco unveiled the Marlboro Challenge, a limited-field, non-points event consisting of pole winners (who would receive a $5,000 bonus), race winners, and top points scorers. The inaugural edition would be staged at the Tamiami Park circuit in Miami on October 31, 1987 – the day before the PPG/CART IndyCar World Series season finale.
The $730,000 purse for the Marlboro Challenge exceeded all other races on the CART schedule outside of the Indy 500, and its inclusion as a high-profile sideshow to the title decider upset CART’s title sponsor PPG Industries. The company’s racing director Jim Chapman, told Indianapolis Star reporter Robin Miller: “We don’t want to make a federal case out of this. I told (Frasco) we didn’t object to the event, but we do object to the timing and priorities that permit the prize money to exceed not only the purse for the official Miami race, but for any other official race on the CART schedule.”
1989, and Al Unser Jr. chases down Rick Mears for second, before eventually making a smooth pass on erstwhile leader Michael Andretti to claim victory. Photo: Dan R Boyd
SUBSCRIBE TO VINTAGE MOTORSPORTBut the furor soon died down, and with the ’87 CART championship already decided in Bobby Rahal’s favor, Rahal drew the No. 2 grid spot for the inaugural Marlboro Challenge. The then two-time series champion dominated the 42-lap race to collect $225,000. Fittipaldi was Rahal’s most convincing challenger, but his Lola-Chevrolet ran out of fuel midway around the penultimate lap. That left Danny Sullivan and Team Penske to collect the $135,000 prize for second place.
“I think with about seven laps to go they hung out a ‘Fuel’ sign, and I thought, ‘My God…please!’” Rahal said in Victory Lane. “The last two laps, my fuel light was flashing on and off and on. It looks like the race was more of an economy run than a dash.”
A new promotion called the Marlboro Million was added in 1988, inspired by similar schemes launched in stock car racing and golf. Any Indy car driver who won the Marlboro 500 at Michigan Speedway, the Marlboro Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, and the Marlboro Challenge would take home a seven-figure payday. The Challenge grid would now be based on poles and wins from the season proper, instead of a random draw.
The second Challenge, also held in conjunction with the Miami season finale, was delayed two hours by tropical storms. Rain started again on the pace laps, but by the end of the race, the sun was shining brightly. Mario Andretti took the early lead, but Unser Jr. spun him out in an incident that foreshadowed their contentious collision six months later in Long Beach. Michael Andretti then passed Unser for the lead before the mandatory pit stops.
Michael again reclaimed the lead from Unser when Al Jr. emerged from his stop, but Junior reeled him back in as the track dried. Unser made a move for the lead with two laps remaining, but hit a puddle and crashed at Turn 9, allowing Andretti to win by 2.455sec over Fittipaldi.
