IndyCar: Hunter-Reay captures his second straight Barber race (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

Ryan Hunter-Reay erased a frustrating Long Beach weekend with an authoritative drive in the third round of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season, as he repeated his 2013 win at Barber Motorsports Park.

But there were differences. This one didn’t require a late pass for the win, came from third on the grid rather than pole, and featured a Honda rather than a Chevrolet powering his DHL Andretti Autosport entry.

It also ended under yellow following an accident for Russian rookie Mikhail Aleshin in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports SMP Racing Honda, as he ran wide at Turn 14 and hit the tire barriers hard with just more than six minutes to go.

Hunter-Reay cycled back to the lead following the second round of pit stops, a green flag round after four cautions for 12 laps flew during the first 55 laps. He led 40 of 69 laps.

“I had such a blast, it was a bummer we ended under yellow, what a dream to win with a Honda at a Honda-sponsored race,” Hunter-Reay said to NBCSN’s Kevin Lee in victory lane. “Last week it should have been a great result. Firestones to the wets, blacks and reds, they did a great job. The race kind of dragged on at the end, but it was tough for everybody today. (Switching to slicks) was horrible for everybody – it was like ice skating with sneakers on.”

The win makes RHR the third different winner in as many races to open the season. Marco Andretti in second made it an Andretti Autosport 1-2, the team’s first since Iowa last season.

“I’m really proud of this whole team – Marco drove his whole way to the front. Feels good after Long Beach,” team principal Michael Andretti told NBCSN’s Jon Beekhuis. “The race came to us. It was a good day.”

Added Marco Andretti to NBCSN’s Kelli Stavast, “It was an awesome job by Andretti Autosport. We didn’t have much for the DHL car, but it was a heck of a team effort.”

Scott Dixon in third took his first podium finish of the season. Long Beach sparring partners Simon Pagenaud and Will Power rounded out the top five, continuing their streak of ending in the top five in all three races this season. Power’s off in the early stages of the race cost him a likely win.

Justin Wilson, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top 10.

Power leads Hunter-Reay, 125 to 107, in the points standings unofficially. Pagenaud is third, 33 back.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports