Indy 500: How much money does the winner receive? Prize purse explained

How has the prize fund for the Indy 500 evolved?

Since its first running in 1911, the winner’s take-home check has ballooned from the $14,250 that Ray Harroun received that year. 

Over time, some serious financial barriers were broken, notably in 1957 when Sam Hanks took home $103k, Danny Sullivan’s famous spin-and-win in 1985 was worth $517,662 (above) and we had our first millionaire victory in 1989, when Emerson Fittipaldi scooped $1,001,604.  

Emmo’s first victory check that year was more than the prize purse from every running from 1911 to 1970! A driver’s winnings very much depends on the circumstances of the time, including the financial health of the sanctioning body, as well as the TV deal details and ticket sales.  

The winner of the race receives about 20% of the prize purse, which is then appropriated in a sliding scale for the rest of the 33-car field. Bonuses such as pole position – eg: Scott Dixon won $100,000 for pole  – and laps led very much affect the outcome of each car’s winnings too. 

The prize money is awarded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the cash going to each entrant’s car. The drivers have contracts that state what percentage of the winnings they take, while the team owner will then spread that around the team as well as taking his or her own share. 

Hélio Castroneves (Photo by: IndyCar Series)

What was the biggest Indy 500 paycheck?

In 2009, Team Penske and Helio Castroneves took home the biggest paycheck in Indy 500 history: $3,048,005. Of his $2.5million winnings in 2018, Will Power told Motorsport.com of his own personal terms, “I didn’t quite get 50% of it but I was pretty close!” 

Perhaps the most unfortunate driver in Indy history, in terms of prize winnings, was Takuma Sato. His victory in front of the first-ever crowd-less Indy 500 – run in August 2020 (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) – netted him 'only' $1.3m. This compares with the $2,458,129 he won in 2017 in front of a packed audience. 

It was doubly galling as, before the pandemic forced a reappraisal, new IndyCar owner Roger Penske had previously pledged a richest-ever prize purse of $15m.

With a 40 percent capacity crowd permitted in 2021, the prize money started climbing again. 

As the prize purse for the last two years was skewed by artificially reduced crowds, here’s the 2019 pot breakdown from first to last:

Pos	Driver	Prize money
1	Simon Pagenaud	$2,669,529
2	Alexander Rossi	$759,179
3	Takuma Sato	$540,454
4	Josef Newgarden	$462,904
5	Will Power	$444,554
6	Ed Carpenter	$450,554
7	Santino Ferrucci	$435,404
8	Ryan Hunter-Reay	$379,129
9	Tony Kanaan	$369,129
10	Conor Daly	$230,805
11	James Hinchcliffe	$365,129
12	James Davison	$220,305
13	Ed Jones	$233,305
14	Spencer Pigot	$377,229
15	Matheus Leist	$344,129
16	Pippa Mann	$200,305
17	Scott Dixon	$359,204
18	Helio Castroneves	$200,305
19	Sage Karam	$204,305
20	JR Hildebrand	$200,305
21	Jack Harvey	$200,305
22	Oriol Servia	$203,305
23	Marcus Ericsson	$384,629
24	Jordan King	$200,805
25	Charlie Kimball	$200,305
26	Marco Andretti	$334,129
27	Graham Rahal	$334,129
28	Felix Rosenqvist	$353,279
29	Zach Veach	$334,129
30	Sebastien Bourdais	$342,129
31	Kyle Kaiser	$205,305
32	Ben Hanley	$200,805
33	Colton Herta	$351,129

And here is the all-time list, including the prize purse and winner’s reward:

Year	Total purse	Winner	Winner's prize
1911	$27,550	Ray Harroun	$14,250
1912	$52,225	Joe Dawson	$20,000
1913	$55,875	Jules Goux	$20,000
1914	$51,675	Rene Thomas	$20,000
1915	$51,200	Ralph DePalma	$20,000
1916	$31,350	Dario Resta	$12,000
1919	$55,275	Howdy Wilcox	$20,000
1920	$93,550	Gaston Chevrolet	$21,400
1921	$86,850	Tommy Milton	$26,400
1922	$70,575	Jimmy Murphy	$26,200
1923	$83,425	Tommy Milton	$28,500
1924	$86,850	L.L. Corum/Joe Boyer	$20,050
1925	$87,750	Peter DePaolo	$28,800
1926	$88,100	Frank Lockhart	$35,600
1927	$89,850	George Souders	$30,625
1928	$90,750	Louis Meyer	$28,250
1929	$95,150	Ray Keech	$31,950
1930	$96,250	Billy Arnold	$36,900
1931	$81,800	Louis Schneider	$29,500
1932	$93,900	Fred Frame	$31,050
1933	$54,450	Louis Meyer	$18,000
1934	$83,775	Bill Cummings	$29,725
1935	$78,575	Kelly Petillo	$30,600
1936	$82,525	Louis Meyer	$31,300
1937	$92,135	Wilbur Shaw	$35,075
1938	$91,075	Floyd Roberts	$32,075
1939	$87,050	Wilbur Shaw	$27,375
1940	$85,525	Wilbur Shaw	$30,725
1941	$90,925	Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose	$29,200
1946	$115,450	George Robson	$42,350
1947	$137,425	Mauri Rose	$33,425
1948	$171,075	Mauri Rose	$42,800
1949	$179,050	Bill Holland	$51,575
1950	$201,035	Johnnie Parsons	$57,458
1951	$207,650	Lee Wallard	$63,612
1952	$230,100	Troy Ruttman	$61,743
1953	$246,300	Bill Vukovich	$89,496
1954	$269,375	Bill Vukovich	$74,934
1955	$270,400	Bob Sweikert	$76,138
1956	$282,052	Pat Flaherty	$93,819
1957	$300,252	Sam Hanks	$103,844
1958	$305,217	Jimmy Bryan	$105,574
1959	$338,100	Rodger Ward	$106,850
1960	$369,150	Jim Rathmann	$110,000
1961	$400,000	AJ Foyt	$117,975
1962	$426,152	Rodger Ward	$125,015
1963	$494,030	Parnelli Jones	$148,513
1964	$506,575	AJ Foyt	$153,650
1965	$628,399	Jim Clark	$166,621
1966	$691,808	Graham Hill	$156,297
1967	$734,834	AJ Foyt	$171,527
1968	$712,269	Bobby Unser	$175,139
1969	$805,127	Mario Andretti	$206,727
1970	$1,000,002	Al Unser	$271,697
1971	$1,001,604	Al Unser	$238,454
1972	$1,011,845	Mark Donohue	$218,767
1973	$1,006,105	Gordon Johncock	$236,022
1974	$1,015,686	Johnny Rutherford	$245,031
1975	$1,001,321	Bobby Unser	$214,031
1976	$1,037,776	Johnny Rutherford	$255,321
1977	$1,116,807	AJ Foyt	$259,791
1978	$1,145,225	Al Unser	$290,363
1979	$1,271,954	Rick Mears	$270,401
1980	$1,503,225	Johnny Rutherford	$318,819
1981	$1,605,375	Bobby Unser	$299,124
1982	$2,067,475	Gordon Johncock	$290,609
1983	$2,411,450	Tom Sneva	$385,886
1984	$2,795,899	Rick Mears	$434,060
1985	$3,271,025	Danny Sullivan	$517,662
1986	$4,001,450	Bobby Rahal	$581,062
1987	$4,490,375	Al Unser	$526,762
1988	$5,025,400	Rick Mears	$809,853
1989	$5,723,725	Emerson Fittipaldi	$1,001,604
1990	$6,325,803	Arie Luyendyk	$1,090,940
1991	$7,009,150	Rick Mears	$1,219,704
1992	$7,527,450	Al Unser Jr	$1,244,184
1993	$7,681,300	Emerson Fittipaldi	$1,155,304
1994	$7,864,800	Al Unser Jr	$1,373,813
1995	$8,063,550	Jacques Villeneuve	$1,312,019
1996	$8,114,600	Buddy Lazier	$1,367,854
1997	$8,612,450	Arie Luyendyk	$1,568,150
1998	$8,722,150	Eddie Cheever	$1,433,000
1999	$9,047,150	Kenny Brack	$1,465,190
2000	$9,476,505	Juan Pablo Montoya	$1,235,690
2001	$9,610,325	Helio Castroneves	$1,270,475
2002	$10,028,580	Helio Castroneves	$1,606,215
2003	$10,151,830	Gil de Ferran	$1,353,265
2004	$10,250,580	Buddy Rice	$1,761,740
2005	$10,304,815	Dan Wheldon	$1,537,805
2006	$10,518,565	Sam Hornish	$1,744,855
2007	$10,668,815	Dario Franchitti	$1,645,233
2008	$14,406,580	Scott Dixon	$2,988,065
2009	$14,315,315	Helio Castroneves	$3,048,005
2010	$13,592,815	Dario Franchitti	$2,752,055
2011	$13,509,485	Dan Wheldon	$2,592,255
2012	$13,285,815	Dario Franchitti	$2,474,280
2013	$12,020,065	Tony Kanaan	$2,353,355
2014	$14,231,760	Ryan Hunter-Reay	$2,491,194
2015	$13,397,315	Juan Pablo Montoya	$2,449,055
2016	$13,273,253	Alexander Rossi	$2,548,743
2017	$13,178,359	Takuma Sato	$2,458,129
2018	$13,078,065	Will Power	$2,525,454
2019	$13,090,536	Simon Pagenaud	$2,669,529
2020	$7,502,500	Takuma Sato	$1,370,500
2021	$8,854,565	Helio Castroneves	$1,828,305

In 1989, Emerson Fittipaldi became the first Indy 500 winner to claim over $1m for his efforts. (Photo by: Ron McQueeney - IMS)