Graham Rahal's third pre-Indy 500 golf tournament follows in the late Paul Newman's footsteps - MotorSportsTalk

Among other things, IndyCar driver Graham Rahal is known for his profession, his romance with drag racer Courtney Force and his father, team owner and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal.

But Rahal, just 25, has quietly and with little fanfare become quite the philanthropist and charitable sort. While other drivers are planning strategy for the Indy 500 on May 25, Rahal is also making plans of a different sort: to raise several hundred thousand more dollars for charity.

Just four days before the 500, the aptly-named Graham Rahal Foundation will host its third annual Drivers Tournament benefiting Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer and the SeriousFun Children’s Network.

Instead of worrying about how to get more speed out of their cars, drivers and other tournament entrants will enjoy a significantly slower pace where golf carts will be their mode of transportation around the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course, located within the expansive Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The golf tournament has raised more than $300,000 for Rahal’s foundation in the event’s first two years.

“We hope this year’s event proves to be our most successful in the history of the foundation, and in-turn, allows us to raise more money to help more children through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer and SeriousFun Children’s Network,” Rahal said. “A big thank you to all the sponsors involved in this year’s event and for making it all possible. Together we are helping to make a difference and working for a great cause.”

The tournament will have a number of competitions contained within, including prizes for hole-in-one, longest drive and closest to the pin contests. A silent auction of IndyCar memorabilia and a variety of entertainment experiences will also take place, followed by an awards ceremony and recognition lunch.

The younger Rahal was inspired to begin his foundation in part due to charitable efforts of the first team owner he raced for in the Indy car world, the late actor Paul Newman.

Newman founded SeriousFun Children’s Network in 1988 to serve children with serious illnesses at no charge to their families. It has served nearly 450,000 children and families from more than 50 countries.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation began in 2000 when four-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Scott decided to open a lemonade stand to raise money to find a cure for childhood cancer. Sadly, while Alex died from cancer in 2004, her foundation has gone on to raise more than $75 million toward cancer research, including funding over 375 pediatric cancer research projects nationally.

For more information on the Graham Rahal Foundation and the upcoming golf tournament, visit GrahamRahal.com/Foundation.

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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

Graham Rahal’s third pre-Indy 500 golf tournament follows in the late Paul Newman’s footsteps

Winner Josef Newgarden earns $3.666 million from a record Indy 500 purse of $17 million