NNS: Smith, Sadler, Scott, Chris Buescher in Dash4Cash this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

After claiming the first Nationwide Dash4Cash bonus last weekend at New Hampshire, Regan Smith is now in line to eventually earn up to $1 million through the contest.

But getting that big payday is going to take a lot of work.

He’ll need to win the next two D4C bonuses and then win the event next month at Iowa Speedway in order to secure a $600,000 prize from Nationwide Insurance – which would bring the total bonus sum to that million dollar mark.

Meanwhile, he still has to worry about maintaining the Nationwide Series points lead this weekend in the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

And while Smith wouldn’t mind earning some more extra cash, the championship comes first.

“We’re still focused on the big picture,” he said heading into the weekend. “This summer stretch can be ruthless, and we didn’t have the start we were looking for back in June.

“Aside from Daytona, it’s been a challenge. So we have our work cut out for us over the next couple months. There is always room for improvement and Chicago will be the place to start.”

However, Smith has not usually had great performance at Chicagoland. He has only been able to earn an average finish of 24th-place over five NNS starts on the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet.

Two of Smith’s D4C rivals this weekend, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott, have had more success. At Chicagoland, Sadler’s earned one win and four Top-10s in nine series starts, while Scott has an average finish at 9.8, good for second-best among active drivers.

“The way that the track is laid out, the way you can ride the high line…My strong suit seems to be typically, when the race gets going and the tires fall off, I’m able to work the high groove really well and make up a lot of time there,” Scott said of the track.

“It’s a fun place, I like going to Chicago. It’s just a track I feel comfortable at and I have a lot of confidence when I go in. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.”

Then there’s Chris Buescher (pictured, right), the Nationwide Series rookie that put himself in contention for the Chicagoland D4C bonus by finishing fifth last weekend.

Buescher will tackle Chicagoland for the first time in a Nationwide car, but has picked up two Top-10s on 1.5-mile ovals this year (a pair of ninth-place finishes, Las Vegas and Charlotte). He also finished in the Top 5 in both of Chicagoland’s 2011 and 2012 ARCA races.

If he can replicate such form, he could drive away with the loot on Saturday night.

“We had an awesome run at New Hampshire, finished fifth and had some really good pit strategy – everything worked out in our favor and I am really proud of all of our guys,” he said.

“I am hoping that we can keep the momentum rolling in our Ford EcoBoost Mustang and not only get the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash, but capture another Top-5 or possibly a win at Chicagoland.”

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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