IndyCar Sets $5 million Bounty for Vegas Finale Won by an Outsider

This is rather interesting.
If any race car driver in the world outside of the IZOD IndyCar Series can win Indy’s new Las Vegas season finale, that driver will automatically cash an additional $5 million.
The Coca-Cola 600/Indianapolis 500 double has been dead for at least seven years but IndyCar never ceased in their attempts to lure the world’s top drivers to open-wheel racing.
The topic first gained traction last May when SMI CEO Bruton Smith and IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard suggested “marrying” Indy and NASCAR for one day with a double-winner’s purse of over $20 million. (That figure was based on a suggested insurance claim.)
The idea never came to fruition but Bernard continued to effort several new ideas.

“We showcase our drivers as being the very best, fastest and most versatile in the world,” Bernard said. “We are putting our money where our mouth is. If any race car driver in the world outside of the IZOD IndyCar Series can win the Vegas race, we will give you $5 million. We will accept five entries for this challenge, with entrants being determined by mid-summer.”

This is alluring bait for NASCAR teams, especially those owned by Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske, who race in both Sprint Cup and IndyCar. The Cup Series runs the Charlotte Motor Speedway the night prior to Vegas race, with the Bank of America 500 ending just before Midnight p.m. EST in Concord.

“We had the opportunity to conduct a test with Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske at Vegas last November and our cars performed very well at this facility,” said Brian Barnhart, IndyCar president of competition. “Its banking and width is similar to Chicagoland Speedway, which has produced some of the most exciting, side-by-side racing and closest finishes in the history of the series.”

Bernard also announced that fans who purchase a ticket to any IndyCar race during the 2011 season are also eligible to receive a complementary free ticket to the finale.
The only question that remains is will anyone in NASCAR take the bait and race in IndyCar’s new premier event.