would be awarded to any driver not on the IndyCar circuit to enter the race at Las Vegas and win while starting from the back of the field. Bernard's original offer was exclusively to "any race car driver in the world outside of the IZOD IndyCar Series," hoping to attract interest from Formula 1 or NASCAR. Bernard received offers that he deemed viable from motocross racer Travis Pastrana, former IndyCar champion Alex Zanardi, and NASCAR's Kasey Kahne, but all three offers were not without issue. Pastrana, who also drove rally cars and would eventually compete in NASCAR, had entered the Best Trick event at X Games XVII in Los Angeles in July 2011. During his attempt at a rodeo 720, Pastrana crashed on landing and broke his foot and ankle. He was still working to rehabilitate the injury, and would likely have required special controls to be put in the car if he was to attempt the feat. Zanardi’s problem was twofold. He had not competed in an IndyCar event since the 2001 American Memorial at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, during which both of his legs were severed on impact after Alex Tagliani hit his car after Zanardi, who had been exiting out road, lost control of his vehicle. Zanardi also requested to drive for his former team, Chip Ganassi Racing, and they were unable to fulfill his request due to a lack of available resources. Kahne also had this problem, as he desired to drive for Team Penske. In his case, cross-country travel would cause a logistical issue; NASCAR would be running the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway the night before IndyCar’s event. Bernard later revised the challenge to include a driver who had only competed in IndyCar part-time during the 2011 season; the challenge was accepted by 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who had run only one additional race that season: the Kentucky Indy 300, in which Wheldon also started at the back of the field in the No. 77 Sam Schmidt car, and finished 14th. Wheldon agreed to split the purse with a fan if he went on to win. Championship battle Entering the race, the only two drivers still in contention for the IndyCar Championship were Ganassi's Franchitti and Penske's Power. Franchitti was 18 points ahead of Power, retaking the championship points lead from him with a second-place finish at the 2011 Kentucky Indy