INDIANAPOLIS — This year's Indianapolis 500 winner will take home a much smaller check than past champions.
13News has confirmed the winner of the August 23 race will take home at least a million dollars, more than $1.5 million less than 2019 winner Simon Pagenaud. The entire purse for the race has been cut in half.
Pagenaud won $2.66 million for his first Indianapolis 500 win last May, out of a total purse of more than $13 million.
The prize cuts were reported Friday afternoon by RACER Magazine. According to that report, IMS owner Roger Penske told car owners about the reduction earlier this week, announcing that the $15 million pot would be reduced to $7 million. Without ticket sales, RACER reported IMS is missing out on at least $20 million in revenue.
Driver J.R. Hildebrand, who memorably finished second to Dan Wheldon after crashing in the final turn of the 2011 race, tweeted Friday that the money isn't the most important part of winning the 500.
This year's race was rescheduled from its traditional Memorial Day weekend date to August due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, it was announced that no fans would be allowed inside to watch the 500 this year.
That decision came after IMS officials originally said the stands would be at 25 percent capacity for the race. Earlier this year, Penske said they could hold the race in October if fans were unable to attend the August date.
Penske's rival owner Chip Ganassi told RACER the owners didn't hesitate when told of the lessened prize pool.
“I’m not worried about the purse — sure we’d like to have more money, but this isn’t about one year and he’s doing all he can," Ganassi said of Penske.
