Indy 500 Win Earns Marcus Ericsson Record-Setting Payday

Left turns weren't the only thing adding up during Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Money, and lots of it, accumulated around the Marcus Ericsson-won race.

The holiday weekend race set records for total purse ($16,000,200) and highest payday in race history ($3.1 million).

Indy's more than $16 million purse was distributed amongst the field of 33 drivers and surpassed the previous high ($14,406,580) by almost $2 million. That purse record had been set in 2008. Last year's bag was only $8,854,565.

Taking home the biggest slice of the 500 pie was Marcus Ericsson, who netted the $3.1 million first-place prize. Ericsson's massive payday was only the second time in Indy 500 history that the winner walked away with more than $3 million. The only other racer to previously do so was Helio Castroneves who pocketed $3,048,005 back in 2009.

Ericsson's take home was just over 19% of the total purse. One other driver reached seven figures at this year's 500, runner-up Pato O’Ward, who scored an even $1 million.

Six drivers left Indy with more than half a million dollars in winnings, and one other, Scott Dixon, drove away with more than $700k ($707,000).

It's not just these drivers' feet that are heavy, it's also their wallets.

 

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