zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
The Indianapolis 500 Winner Got $2.5 Million
The Indianapolis 500 Winner Got $2.5 Million-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:22

When Takuma Sato , it was worth enough in purse money to pay off your student loans and have cash left over . The winner’s earnings were nearly $2.5 million this year, a whopping $1.7 million more than second place got.

Of course, Sato won’t take home all of that money. There are likely hefty, not-included taxes and operating costs for the team, but $2.5 million is still more than most of us can say we’ve earned in a day. What’s even wilder is the purse money for the rest of the drivers, with the minimum payout being $200,305 for anyone who made the 33-car field.

Without considering the cost of running the Indy 500, it would not be a terrible job to be paid $200,305 for performing worse than anyone else you’re working alongside that day. Here’s how the purse earnings went throughout the field, according to the on the Verizon IndyCar Series’ website. Notice that finishing higher doesn’t necessarily mean winning more money:

The total purse for the race was nearly $13.2 million, which is actually on par for big American racing events. Back when NASCAR , the 2015 Daytona 500 had a of more than $18 million. The monetary drops between different finishing places were less drastic than in Indy, with the race winner, Joey Logano, receiving around $1.6 million.

Perhaps the wildest part about the Indy 500 purse payout is the drop from first to second. In the NASCAR example above, second-place finisher Kevin Harvick got around $1.2 million at Daytona. That’s just $400,000 less than Logano.

Helio Castroneves, , looked like he’d win the race on Sunday. For Castroneves, falling slightly behind Sato in the final laps meant a difference of almost $1.7 million when it came time to write the checks. By the time we get to fifth in the finishing order, purse money is already in the $400,000 range—more than $2 million under what Sato won.

But don’t feel too badly for the lower finishers. The race results say this year’s Indy 500 lasted three hours and 13 minutes. If we round that down to just three hours—most of us don’t get paid for our commute time to and from work, after all—Sato’s hourly wages for the Indy 500 were $819,376 and some change.

Jay Howard, who finished last and only completed 45 laps, made $66,768 an hour. He didn’t even finish out the workday.

Somebody get me on this payroll, if you wouldn’t mind.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Fellow nerds, get ready to open your wallets, because I’ve found what may be the greatest store of all time. With designs from Formula 1 teams like , you’re sure to find something that fits your particular nostalgic niche. I’d like to introduce you to Racing Retro. I first...
Oct 22, 2024
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
In another unsurprising example of motorsport’s inhospitable mindset toward hiring competent women, the Racing team has announced a new partnership with Ava Rose, a literal , who will... engage with fans? Share knowledge about technology? “Navigate the cutting edge of innovation to create positive change” (whatever that means)? I...
Oct 22, 2024
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
The partially North Carolina-based squad has determined that after , it needs to mix things up a little. The team’s firebrand has been following an abysmal 2023 season which saw the team score just four points-paying finishes. The team’s , where scored a fourth-place finish, but that season too...
Oct 22, 2024
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
If you follow racing in the U.S., you probably already know about the . Most of the episodes are too much of a distraction to put on as background noise while you work, but a couple of recent entries in his series have been working incredibly well for me....
Oct 22, 2024
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
Name a car from the early 1960s built by a famed racing driver with curvy, lightweight aluminum bodywork, a big American engine, and a reputation for being unruly and fast as all hell. Your first thought was probably the famed Shelby Cobra, did you know there was a who...
Oct 22, 2024
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
If you listen to Formula 1 or local officials from Las Vegas and Clark County, you’d probably think November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success. Some sources estimated that the city of Las Vegas made over $1 billion in revenue from the event — but there were...
Oct 22, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved