Kevin Magnussen, Renger van der Zande win for Ganassi at Detroit; IMSA results, points

By Jun 12, 2021, 8:30 PM EDT
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IMSA points results Detroit: Chip Ganassi Racing swept Saturday at Belle Isle Raceway as Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande took the No. 01 Cadillac to victory lane in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic.

It’s the 60th career sports car victory for Ganassi but the team’s first at Belle Isle.

The Ganassi duo finished 0.573 seconds ahead of the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani. Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque finished third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura, which scored its third DPi podium finish through four races.

The victory for Magnussen and van der Zande came about two hours after Ganassi driver Marcus Ericsson won for the first time in the NTT IndyCar Series.

This is the first season together for Magnussen and van der Zande, who teamed up about two months before the season began when CGR decided to enter the premier division of IMSA.

After Magnussen started on pole position for the first time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the No. 01 led 97 of 99 laps around the 14-turn, 2.3-mile road course in the 100-minute race.

“I haven’t won a race since 2013 and it feels great,” Magnussen said. “The whole season we have been fast, but just not getting it to the end. We led a lot of laps this year and finally the right laps. Chip Ganassi Racing had an impressive weekend (referring to the win in IndyCar earlier in the day). I was happy to contribute to that with a win as well.

“Coming here and knowing I was going to be able to fight for wins was a real privilege. To go racing with this awesome car at these awesome tracks with this team is a dream. I feel very fortunate and blessed to be able to do that. To come out of this weekend with the big trophy it’s pretty special. I am back in a winning situation and really enjoying it.”

RESULTS: Click here for the final overall finishing order and here for the class breakdown.

Magnussen won in his IMSA debut at Detroit, while van der Zande scored his 15th career IMSA victory and third at Belle Isle while holding off Nasr in the closing laps.

“Having a Brazilian behind you is never easy,” van der Zande said. “We controlled the race. Kevin did a mega job in qualifying to get us to the front. We just kept control of it. You have to be lucky at street tracks not having crazy yellows at the wrong time. I think IMSA did a good job giving everyone a chance controlling the yellows. The car was really nice. We had the Cadillac set-up really well. The team gives you a lot of confidence so I can do what I do and that’s drive cars fast. The win on the home soil of GM, very proud.”

Said team owner Chip Ganassi: “Obviously a big day for the team. I don’t think it is any secret that this team was put together at the last minute in the fall of 2020. It is really special to have an availability of talent, like (Magnussen and van der Zande), that want to come and drive for you. I couldn’t be prouder of these two and the work they put in over the winter. They are the kind of teammates you like to have and the kind of people you want to have in your organization. I think they have a great future in the sport.”

In the GTD division, the No. 39 Peregrine Racing Audi R8 crossed the finish line first but was moved to the rear of the field when a postrace audit showed the team’s refueling was faster than the minimum listed on Balance of Performance table for the class, according to IMSA.

That handed the victory to the No. 23 Heart of Racing team of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis, giving Aston Martin its first victory in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

In the exhibition GTLM division, the No. 4 C8.R Corvette finished ahead of its No. 3 Corvette Racing Counterpart.

STATS PACKAGE FOR CHEVROLET SPORTS CAR CLASSIC AT BELLE ISLE RACEWAY:

Fastest laps by driver

Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)

Fastest laps by driver and class after race

Fastest lap sequence

Leader sequence

Lap chart

Race analysis by lap

Stint analysis

Best sector times

Race distance and speed average

Time cards

Pit stop time cards

ROUND 1: Points and results from the Rolex 24 at Daytona

ROUND 2: Points and results from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

ROUND 3: Points and results from Mid-Ohio

NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will resume June 24-27 at Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

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