How much money does the Indy 500 winner earn?

The Indy 500 winner's earnings, a lis🃏t of every purse🔯 ever, who pays the money, do drivers make a profit?

Indy 500
Indy 500

How much money does the Indy ಌ500 winner earn, where does the money come from, and how much is up for grabs this weekend? We’ve got a♏ll those answers here.

The 109th running of the Indy 500 at the Indianap🥂olis Motor Speedway is on Sunday.

It is one of the standout dജates on the motors🔴port calendar and appropriately comes with a hefty fee for the winning driver.

How much money did last year’s Indy 500 winner earn?

Josef Newg𓆏arden won the race in 2024, his second victory in succession.

He pocke🎃ted $4.288m (an all-tꦏime record high). He got a $440,000 rollover bonus from BorgWarner for his second win in a row.

The overall purse for the drivers was $18.456m.

Is the money for the Indy 500 winner increasing?

New𓆉garden also won in 2023, when he took home $3.666m.

That means, a year later in 2024, his winning drive was worth 17% moꦓr🔯e.

How much money will the 2025 Indy 500 winner earn?

The purse is not conf🐭irmed until after the race. It comes from𒈔 Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Newgarden is aiming to become the first driver to win three in a row but his mission has been made much harder because he starts at the back of the 33-car field, as a part of Team ⛄Penske’s punishment for failing a technical inspection in qualifying.

How is the purse divided up? Does every Indy 500 driver earn money?

The purse is not split equally. The pole-sitter takes home a big chunk, then drivers profit by how many lap🐎s they lead.

Since 1924, every driver in the Indy 5🤪00 has taken home some mon𝔉ey.

However, drivers don’t always make a proꦑfit from entering.

It can cost $1m for a driver to enter with a big teꦉam, or $2m for a less established team. That is often more than whatever fee they win back.

Conor Daly told the Indy Star in 2018 that he needeဣd a top five finish to actually pꦇrofit from entering.

Who is paying the prize money for the Indy 500?

Sponsors, ⛎sancti⛄oning bodies and TV broadcasters contribute to the purse.

It has grown to record highꦫs in the past few years.  It was $16m in 2022, then $17.0215m in 2023, and $18.456m in 2024.

List of every Indy 500 purse, and every winners' earnings

YearTotal PurseWinnerEarnings
1911$27,550Ray Harroun$14,250
191252,225Joe Dawson20,000
191355,875Jules Goux20,000
191451,675Rene Thomas20,000
191551,200Ralph DePalma20,000
191631,350Dario Resta12,000
191955,275Howdy Wilcox20,000
192093,550Gaston Chevrolet21,400
192186,850Tommy Milton26,400
192270,575Jimmy Murphy26,200
192383,425Tommy Milton28,500
192486,850L.L. Corum/Joe Boyer20,050
192587,750Peter DePaolo28,800
192688,100Frank Lockhart35,600
192789,850George Souders30,625
192890,750Louis Meyer28,250
192995,150Ray Keech31,950
193096,250Billy Arnold36,900
193181,800Louis Schneider29,500
193293,900Fred Frame31,050
193354,450Louis Meyer18,000
193483,775Bill Cummings29,725
193578,575Kelly Petillo30,600
193682,525Louis Meyer31,300
193792,135Wilbur Shaw35,075
193891,075Floyd Roberts32,075
193987,050Wilbur Shaw27,375
194085,525Wilbur Shaw30,725
194190,925Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose29,200
1946115,450George Robson42,350
1947137,425Mauri Rose33,425
1948171,075Mauri Rose42,800
1949179,050Bill Holland51,575
1950201,035Johnnie Parsons57,458
1951207,650Lee Wallard63,612
1952230,100Troy Ruttman61,743
1953246,300Bill Vukovich89,496
1954269,375Bill Vukovich74,934
1955270,400Bob Sweikert76,138
1956282,052Pat Flaherty93,819
1957300,252Sam Hanks103,844
1958305,217Jimmy Bryan105,574
1959338,100Rodger Ward106,850
1960369,150Jim Rathmann110,000
1961400,000A.J. Foyt117,975
1962426,152Rodger Ward125,015
1963494,030Parnelli Jones148,513
1964506,575A.J. Foyt153,650
1965628,399Jim Clark166,621
1966691,808Graham Hill156,297
1967734,834A.J. Foyt171,527
1968712,269Bobby Unser175,139
1969805,127Mario Andretti206,727
19701,000,002Al Unser271,697
19711,001,604Al Unser238,454
19721,011,845Mark Donohue218,767
19731,006,105Gordon Johncock236,022
19741,015,686Johnny Rutherford245,031
19751,001,321Bobby Unser214,031
19761,037,776Johnny Rutherford255,321
19771,116,807A.J. Foyt259,791
19781,145,225Al Unser290,363
19791,271,954Rick Mears270,401
19801,503,225Johnny Rutherford318,819
19811,605,375Bobby Unser299,124
19822,067,475Gordon Johncock290,609
19832,411,450Tom Sneva385,886
19842,795,899Rick Mears434,060
19853,271,025Danny Sullivan517,662
19864,001,450Bobby Rahal581,062
19874,490,375Al Unser526,762
19885,025,400Rick Mears809,853
19895,723,725Emerson Fittipaldi1,001,604
19906,325,803Arie Luyendyk1,090,940
19917,009,150Rick Mears1,219,704
19927,527,450Al Unser Jr.1,244,184
19937,681,300Emerson Fittipaldi1,155,304
19947,864,800Al Unser Jr.1,373,813
19958,063,550Jacques Villeneuve1,312,019
19968,114,600Buddy Lazier1,367,854
19978,612,450Arie Luyendyk1,568,150
19988,722,150Eddie Cheever Jr.1,433,000
19999,047,150Kenny Brack1,465,190
20009,476,505Juan Pablo Montoya1,235,690
20019,610,325Helio Castroneves1,270,475
200210,028,580Helio Castroneves1,606,215
200310,151,830Gil de Ferran1,353,265
200410,250,580Buddy Rice1,761,740
200510,304,815Dan Wheldon1,537,805
200610,518,565Sam Hornish Jr.1,744,855
200710,668,815Dario Franchitti1,645,233
200814,406,580Scott Dixon2,988,065
200914,315,315Helio Castroneves3,048,005
201013,592,815Dario Franchitti2,752,055
201113,509,485Dan Wheldon2,592,255
201213,285,815Dario Franchitti2,474,280
201312,020,065Tony Kanaan2,353,355
201414,231,760Ryan Hunter-Reay2,491,194
201513,397,315Juan Pablo Montoya2,449,055
201613,273,253Alexander Rossi2,548,743
201713,178,359Takuma Sato2,458,129
201813,078,065Will Power2,525,454
201913,090,536Simon Pagenaud2,669,529
20207,502,500Takuma Sato1,370,500
20218,854,565Helio Castroneves1,828,305
202216,000,200Marcus Ericsson3,100,000
2023$17.0215mJosef Newgarden3,666,000
2024$18.456mJosef Newgarden4,288,000

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything fromജ American sports, to football, to F1.

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