NASCAR: Brett Moffitt set for Sprint Cup debut this week at Dover - MotorSportsTalk

Michael Waltrip Racing test driver Brett Moffitt will suit up for his inaugural Sprint Cup race at a track that he knows well.

The 21-year-old Iowan, who has three NASCAR national series starts to his name, is scheduled to drive the No. 66 Jay Robinson Racing Toyota in this weekend’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

“If you ask around the garage, you will learn he’s one of the most respected young men in the sport who just hasn’t had a chance at a full-time ride,” Robinson said to The Des Moines (Iowa) Register. “We think he has a lot of talent and will show it at Dover.”

Moffitt is a previous two-time winner at the “Monster Mile” in the K&N Pro Series East. More recently, he filled in for MWR and the ailing Brian Vickers in a test session last fall at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I’m honored Jay asked me to drive his car at Dover,” Moffitt said in a release. “The Monster Mile is a tough, but fun track and I can’t wait to get there. I won the 2009 and 2010 K&N East race at Dover so I think I’ll feel comfortable there, but Sprint Cup racing is a whole new world.

“I appreciate all the support I have received from Jay Robinson, TRD [Toyota Racing Development] and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing for making this happen. My goals are to qualify well and learn all I can during the race.”

The No. 66 Toyota is run as part of a partnership between the MWR and Robinson camps; Waltrip (two races) and NBC Sports’ own Jeff Burton (one race) have raced it under the MWR banner this year, while veteran Joe Nemechek has been its primary driver for the Robinson side.

A former member of the NASCAR Next project, Moffitt was one of the K&N East series’ most consistent drivers in his five-year run from 2009 to 2013.

He collected nine wins, 10 poles, 33 Top-5s, and 44 Top-10s in that span. While he was unable to win a series championship, he finished second in the standings twice, and third three times; last year, he lost the title by 33 points to current Nationwide Series driver Dylan Kwasniewski.

As far as his national series work is concerned, Moffitt finished ninth in a Nationwide race two years ago on home ground at Iowa Speedway. Last year, he made two Camping World Truck Series starts at Kentucky (14th place) and Michigan (17th).

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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