Ganassi set for NASCAR, Indy, sports car cross-continent conquest

By Apr 12, 2016, 8:30 AM EDT
Getty Images
1 Comment

Chip Ganassi has frequently stated on Twitter, when he tweets, the hashtag #ILikeWinners.

He and his Chip Ganassi Racing Teams have several shots to pull them off this weekend, even more than normal, in what might be one of the most ambitious weekends for one single team in motorsports history.

We’ve noted all of the CGRT race programs this year between NASCAR, IndyCar and sports cars, with a likely Red Bull GRC encore as well.

This weekend, meanwhile, is about to see a cross-continent conquest in the first three disciplines. Ganassi will be fielding a combined 12 cars and 17 drivers between Bristol (NASCAR), Long Beach (IndyCar and IMSA) and Silverstone (FIA WEC).

Ganassi noted it late Monday night, and the team replied to my earlier joking Homer Simpson GIF noting the level of racing content this weekend.

So where can you catch Ganassi cars this weekend? Here’s the respective lineups:

Larson and McMurray at Daytona. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

NASCAR, Bristol Motor Speedway (all Chevrolets)

  • Sprint Cup (Sunday): 1-Jamie McMurray; 42-Kyle Larson
  • Xfinity (Saturday): 42-Larson; 48-Brennan Poole
Dixon during the Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway on April 2, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo: Getty Images

Verizon IndyCar Series, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (all Chevrolets)

  • 8-Max Chilton
  • 9-Scott Dixon
  • 10-Tony Kanaan
  • 83-Charlie Kimball
Ford GTs at Sebring. Photo courtesy of Michelin
Ford GTs at Sebring. Photo courtesy of Michelin

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix (all Ford GTs, GT Le Mans class)

  • 66-Joey Hand/Dirk Mueller
  • 67-Richard Westbrook/Ryan Briscoe

FIA World Endurance Championship, 6 Hours of Silverstone (all Ford GTs, GTE-Pro class)

  • 66-Olivier Pla/Stefan Muecke/Billy Johnson
  • 67-Marino Franchitti/Andy Priaulx/Harry Tincknell

So there you have it. Twelve cars and 17 drivers spread across Tennessee, California and the United Kingdom. Not to mention hundreds of staff and crew members.

This is the first of two weekends where all four of these programs will be in action concurrently.

On the chaotic and similarly crazy Sept. 17-18 weekend, IndyCar wraps its season in Sonoma, the Sprint Cup Series opens its Chase at Chicagoland Speedway, the Xfinity Series also races at Chicagoland, while both the FIA WEC and IMSA Ford GTs will be at Circuit of The Americas on September 17 in Austin.

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

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
0 Comments

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