Helio Castroneves joins Tony Stewart/Ray Evernham SRX series

By Aug 19, 2020, 11:30 AM EDT
Superstar Racing Experience Helio Castroneves
Chris Jones/IndyCar
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Superstar Racing Experience has added another Indy 500 winner to its lineup Wednesday, announcing Helio Castroneves would join the series’ debut season next year.

Castroneves, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2001-02 and ’09, was the fifth driver named to the SRX. The series, which is expecting a lineup of a dozen drivers, also has Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte (who was announced last week), Paul Tracy and Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner.

Castroneves has been openly exploring new opportunities for next season. He has raced full time in IMSA this season for Team Penske, which is ending its Acura sports car team after the season, and will be making his 20th Indy 500 start with the team on Aug. 23 (1 p.m. ET, NBC).

‘I STILL HAVE A LOT OF FIRE’: Castroneves determined to race 2021

SRX was co-founded by NASCAR Hall of Famers Stewart and Ray Evernham and was unveiled July 13. Several drivers have expressed interest in the new circuit, which is modeled on the International Race of Champions (IROC) series that matched drivers from various auto racing disciplines in equally prepared cars for an annual four-race series for 30 years.

With the addition of Helio Castroneves, Superstar Racing Experience has yet to reveal a schedule or tracks, but it’s expected that Stewart’s Eldora Speedway will be on the slate. Kanaan and Tracy were both on Evernham’s SRX driver dream list, which also included Scott Dixon, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Here’s the release from SRX:

NEW YORK — Superstar Racing Experience is excited to announce the addition of Hélio Castroneves to the inaugural SRX driver lineup. Castroneves, a Brazilian IndyCar driver has had a historic career, totaling 30 wins and 50 pole positions.

Castroneves’ career highlights include winning the 2001, 2002 and 2009 Indianapolis 500. Castroneves is set to race for Team Penske in this year’s Indianapolis 500.

“I am so excited to be joining the SRX series. I look forward to competing with legendary drivers at historic short tracks and bringing the fans an awesome racing product. Evenly matched cars, elite driving talent and a primetime window on CBS – this will be fun,” said Castroneves.

Castroneves joins Tony Stewart, Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy and Bobby Labonte as the fifth confirmed driver for the series that will air Saturday nights in primetime on CBS Television Network in the Summer of 2021.

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