It’s the richest prize in motorsports and Josef Newgarden earned over $4 million for winning his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
In becoming the first driver since Helio Castroneves in 2002 to go back-to-back in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, Newgarden claimed a record $4.288 million grand prize with his last lap pass over Pato O’Ward.
His earnings include $440,000 from BorgWarner for winning consecutive races, a figure that has grown every year since 2002 when Castroneves claimed the same bonus. Think of the BorgWarner bonus as something similar to the lottery.
It grows until someone claims it.
“You know, someone had to reset the bank,” said Newgarden on Sunday night during his race winning press conference. “I guess we did.”
This comes one year after Newgarden claimed $3.666 million dollars in winning the 107th Indianapolis 500 also in the Team Penske No. 2 Chevrolet-Dallara.
All told, the 2024 overall purse of $18,456,000 also set a new record in surpassing $17,021,500. Before last season, the largest purse for the race came in 2008 at $14.4 million and the largest overall earner was Helio Castroneves in 2009 at $3,048,005.
Second-place finisher Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren, his second such finish in three years, resulted in a $1,050,500 payout — also an increase over what Marcus Ericsson made last year at $1,043,000.
The purses are a testament to Penske Entertainment Group, which purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar Series in the autumn of 2019.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and this record-breaking purse is reflective of just how monumental competing in and winning at Indy is for these drivers,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Despite weather challenges, the Month of May featured packed grandstands and intense on-track action. Presenting this purse is the ideal end cap to an epic month.”
Note that full-time teams receive bonus money that one-off programs do not through the winner’s circle program.
2024 Indianapilis 500 payout
(Order of finish, starting position, name, engine manufacturer, entrant, prize amount)
1. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Team Penske, $4,288,00
2. (8) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, $1,050,500
3. (21) Scott Dixon, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, $835,000
4. (4) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, $688,000
5. (14) Alex Palou, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, $614,000
6. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, Team Penske, $781,500
7. (11) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, Andretti Global, $568,000
8. (6) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, $568,500
9. (7) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, $563,500
10. (29) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, $159,000
11. (15) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, $538,500
12. (24) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, $128,000
13. (28) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $537,000
14. (10) Takuma Sato, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $119,500
15. (33) Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $537,000
16. (23) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, $228,300
17. (17) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, $510,500
18. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick, $178,00
19. (26) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, Juncos Hollinger Racing, $517,500
20. (20) Helio Castroneves, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian, $102,000
21. (18) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, $158,300
22. (22) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, Juncos Hollinger Racing, $511,000
23. (13) Colton Herta, Honda, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian, $513,000
24. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske, $543,000
25. (19) Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Herta w/ Marco & Curb-Agajanian, $102,000
26. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, $102,000
27. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing, $514,000
28. (27) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, $508,500
29. (31) Katherine Legge, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR, $158,800
30. (16) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, $156,300
31. (25) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing, $156,300
32. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $507,500
33. (32) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, Andretti Global, $507,500
n/a (n/a) Nolan Siegel, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing with HMD, $505,500
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
