Pirelli World Challenge’s GT classes double up in Canada (SPOILER)

By Jul 21, 2014, 12:30 PM EDT
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Writer’s Note: The following is a recap of this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge races from the streets of Toronto. NBCSN will broadcast the Toronto races on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 1:30 p.m. ET. If you don’t want to know who won until then, we suggest you find another post to read here on MotorSportsTalk…

The Pirelli World Challenge’s GT-based classes – that’s GT, GTS, and the GT-A subcategory – had their own “2inT.O.” doubleheader this past weekend on the 1.75-mile Honda Indy Toronto street course.

Saturday’s Round 9 started off inauspiciously with a multi-car incident that was triggered by contact between Bret Curtis and Brent Holden and ultimately blocked up Turn 1. The melee knocked GTS polesitter Nic Jonsson and several others out of the running; at least 10 cars came away with some sort of minor damage or issue.

On the restart at Lap 7, British sports car veteran Nick Tandy got ahead of a good battle for second in GT and overall between Canada’s own Kuno Wittmer and Johnny O’Connell. While that progressed, a race for top honors in GTS heated up between Dean Martin, Lawson Aschenbach, and Jack Roush, Jr.

A second caution on Lap 20 bunched up the field for a restart with just over five minutes left, but Tandy was able to stave off Wittmer, who applied heavy pressure before coming up half a second shy of Tandy for the GT and overall win. O’Connell earned a third-place and podium finish.

Back in GTS, Martin and Aschenbach had one final scrap for the win but it was Martin who hung on for the class victory over Aschenbach and third-place Roush.

In GT-A, Marcelo Hahn claimed the checkered flag after a Lap 20 incident took out teammate and class leader at the time Albert von Thurn und Taxis. Michael Mills and Henrik Hedman rounded out the GT-A podium.

Sunday’s Round 10 in GT/GTS/GT-A had what’s assumed to be a satisfying outcome for the home fans as a pair of Canadians scored wins.

Wittmer and Tandy continued their duel from Saturday in GT, with both men passing pole sitter Mike Skeen within the first seven laps. Their fight continued after a Lap 13 caution, but ended on Lap 23 when Wittmer and Tandy made contact in Turn 1.

Said contact sent Tandy spinning out and he was then hit by an oncoming Nick Mancuso, ending both of their races. Wittmer, a native of Montreal, would lead Anthony Lazzaro and Skeen to the checkered flag.

In GTS, Toronto’s Mark Wilkins started from the pole but had his work cut out for him as he sought to hold back a group of five drivers. Marc Udell had the best shot at Wilkins, often pulling within striking distance through the corners before putting up a last-lap attack.

Udell attempted to pass Wilkins on the outside in Turn 11 coming to the checkered flag, but Wilkins had just enough to beat him to the stripe. The margin of victory – 0.039 of a second – became the closest in GTS class history. Behind them, Roush got his second P3 finish of the weekend.

After finishing second in GT-A on Saturday, Mills went one spot better after leading wire-to-wire. Dan Knox was runner-up, and Hedman again came home third.

The Pirelli World Challenge’s next event is an “all skate” on Aug. 1-3 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. GT/GTS/GT-A will have Rounds 11 and 12, while the TC/TCB/TC-A classes return to action for Rounds 9 and 10.

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

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
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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