Indianapolis 500 Purse Reaches New Peak for Second Year in a Row

  • Racing News
Josef Newgarden pictured with the Borg-Warner Trophy and the winner's wreath on the frontstretch of Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the winner's photoshoot.

Winner Newgarden Receives Largest Payout in ‘500’ History

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 29, 2023) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was shattered for the second year in a row after a monumentally successful 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske earning $3.666 million from a total purse of $17,021,500.

After record-breaking payouts in 2022, this is the largest purse and largest winner’s payout in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The year’s average payout for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers was $500,600, which also exceeds last year’s average of $485,000.

In 2022, the Indianapolis 500 purse was $16,000,200 and the year’s winner payout was $3.1 million. Prior to 2022, the largest Indianapolis 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

Second-place finisher Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing took home $1.043 million, exceeding the take-home prize for last year’s second-place finisher.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

The Month of May was full of major milestones as Indianapolis Motor Speedway welcomed more than 330,000 fans to the Racing Capital of the World for Sunday’s race, making it the second-largest Indianapolis 500 crowd in more than two decades.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Benjamin Pedersen earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his performance during the Month of May. Pedersen earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take-home prize of $215,300.

The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT INDYCAR SERIES awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented on Sunday, June 4 on the streets of Downtown Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network starting at 3 p.m. (ET).