How much money does the Indy 500 winner earn?

The Indy 500 winner's earnings, a list of every purse ever, who pays the money, do drivers make a profit?

23 May 2025

How much money does the Indy 500 winner earn, where does the money come from, and how much is up for grabs this weekend? We’ve got all those answers here.

The 109th running of the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is on Sunday.

It is one of the standout dates on the motorsport calendar and appropriately comes with a hefty fee for the winning driver.

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

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

He pocketed $4.288m (an all-time 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?

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

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

How much money will the 2025 Indy 500 winner earn?

The purse is not confirmed until after the race. It comes from 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 laps they lead.

Since 1924, every driver in the Indy 500 has taken home some money.

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

It can cost $1m for a driver to enter with a big team, 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 needed a top five finish to actually profit from entering.

Who is paying the prize money for the Indy 500?

Sponsors, sanctioning bodies and TV broadcasters contribute to the purse.

It has grown to record highs 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

Year	Total Purse	Winner	Earnings
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	A.J. Foyt	117,975
1962	426,152	Rodger Ward	125,015
1963	494,030	Parnelli Jones	148,513
1964	506,575	A.J. Foyt	153,650
1965	628,399	Jim Clark	166,621
1966	691,808	Graham Hill	156,297
1967	734,834	A.J. 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	A.J. 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 Jr.	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 Jr.	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
2022	16,000,200	Marcus Ericsson	3,100,000
2023	$17.0215m	Josef Newgarden	3,666,000
2024	$18.456m	Josef Newgarden	4,288,000