Indy 500 Winner Josef Newgarden Earns Record $4.2 Million Payout

It's good to be an Indianapolis 500 winner. Not only is your name etched into the history books (and the sweet BorgWarner Trophy), but you get to pour milk on your head in front of millions of people and earn some serious bragging rights. Oh yes—and then there's the cash. 2024 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is bringing home a cool $4.4 million after winning his second-consecutive 500 last Sunday.

The consecutive bit is key, because winning the race back-to-back earned him an additional $440,000 bonus from BorgWarner. This additional prize is a rolling bonus available to all drivers and goes up by $20,000 each year. The last driver to earn this cash was Helio Castroneves after winning in 2001 and 2002.

A total purse of $18,456,000 was distributed in 2024, up 1,434,500 from 2023. All 33 drivers get a piece of the pie, even if all they did was start the race and crash a few feet later. Of course, the winner takes the biggest slice, though second-place finisher Pato O'Ward brought home a sizable $1,050,500 while Scott Dixon earned $835,000 for his third place.

As I've explained before, drivers don't get to keep all that cash. Depending on their pre-negotiated Indy 500 contracts (or yearly contracts for the full-season drivers), they'll get to keep anywhere from 30% to 60% of that cash after costs are deducted and other shares distributed. A million-dollar payout can quickly turn into a take-home pay of "just" $350,000—and that's not even taking taxes into consideration. Drivers of Newgarden, O'Ward, and Dixon's caliber can command higher percentages, while pay-to-play racers must surrender the majority to the team.

NASCAR champion Kyle Larson took home $178,000 for his 18th place finish, though that total included a $50,000 bonus for his Rookie of the Year Award—a title that many Indy fans (and even drivers) feel should've gone to 19-year-old Kyffin Simpson).

Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com