What is the total purse for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500, and how much money is at risk for the winner, know the prize money for Indy 500
Winning the Indianapolis 500 is the pinnacle of American single-seater racing, possibly even more so than winning the IndyCar championship. It’s the largest race in the world, and winning it elevates you to the ranks of IndyCar legends – as well as earning you a bottle of milk.
Indy 500 2022 Winner, Prize Money Purse, Results And Full Final Standings
But what is the prize pool for the 2022 Indianapolis 500? What is the entire prize pool and what does the winner get?
| Position | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Marcus Ericsson |
| 2 | Pato O’Ward |
| 3 | Tony Kanaan |
| 4 | Felix Rosenqvist |
| 5 | Conor Daly |
| 6 | Alexander Rossi |
| 7 | Helio Castroneves |
| 8 | Simon Pagenaud |
| 9 | Alex Palou |
| 10 | Santino Ferrucci |
| 11 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
| 12 | JR Hildebrand |
| 13 | Josef Newgarden |
| 14 | Graham Rahal |
| 15 | Will Power |
| 16 | David Malukas |
| 17 | Kyle Kirkwood |
| 18 | Ed Carpenter |
| 19 | Devlin DeFrancesco |
| 20 | C. Lundgaard |
| 21 | Scott Dixon |
| 22 | Marco Andretti |
| 23 | Sage Karam |
| 24 | Jack Harvey |
| 25 | Takuma Sato |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett |
| 27 | Stefan Wilson |
| DNF | Jimmie Johnson |
| DNF | Scott McLaughlin |
| DNF | Colton Herta |
| DNF | Romain Grosjean |
| DNF | Callum Ilott |
| DNF | Rinus VeeKay |
With four wins apiece, Hélio Castroneves, A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, and Al Unser hold the record for the most Indianapolis 500 triumphs. Dario Franchitti, Meyer, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford, Wilbur Shaw, and Bobby Unser are the only six drivers to win the race three times.
Prize money:
For the Indy 500, the drivers do not get any prize money.
Instead, each vehicle owner — like as Michael Andretti, Chip Ganassi, or Roger Penske – receives the prize money from IMS (who technically would be paying himself as he owns IMS).
As part of their contract with the team, drivers earn a piece of the prize money if they win the Indy 500.
The prize money isn’t released until after the race, but based on previous prizes, the victor in 2022 is expected to take home around $2 million USD with the total purse being $10 million.
Helio Castroneves took home around $1.3 million USD, little more than £1 million GBP in 2021, from a total prize of approximately $8 million.
The COVID epidemic, however, has lowered this and Takuma Sato’s 2020 winnings.
Simon Pagenaud won the last ‘regular’ 500 for Penske and brought home $2.6 million in prize money.
How Has It Changed Over Time?
Ray Harroun, the first-ever winner of the 500, was awarded $14,250 for his efforts.
With inflation, that would be $433,663.50 in today’s money.
At today’s currency rates, that works out to $343k in GBP.
Emerson Fittipaldi was the first driver to win a million dollars in 1989.
In 1993, the two-time Formula One world champion won the race for the second time. And enraged many fans by refusing to drink the milk in order to promote his orange juice company.