Rolex 24 rookies Tom Blomqvist first, Alex Palou third in Roar practice at Daytona

By Jan 21, 2022, 6:30 PM EST
Rolex 24 practice Blomqvist
IMSA
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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Tom Blomqvist, a Rolex 24 at Daytona rookie, turned the fastest lap Friday afternoon in the second practice session of the Roar warmup weekend at Daytona International Raceway.

Driving the No. 60 Acura DPi for Meyer Shank Racing, Blomqvist turned a 1-minute, 34.351-second lap around the 3.56-mile road course.

Filipe Albuquerque was second fastest in the No. 10 Acura for Wayne Taylor Racing, which is seeking a record-breaking fourth consecutive victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener.

The No. 10 of WTR had paced the first practice session of the weekend that will set the starting lineup for the 60th running of the Rolex 24 with a 100-minute qualifying race Sunday.

SESSION II: Click here for the speed chart l Click here for the speed chart by class l Fastest lap by driver l Fastest lap by driver and class after session l Time cards l Best sector times l Fastest lap sequence l Combined practice results

INFO FOR THE 60TH ROLEX 24: Schedules, start times, entry lists

Reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who will be making the first endurance start of his career with the Rolex 24, was third fastest in the second practice, turning a lap of 1:34.712 in the No. 01 Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing.

“First practice at Daytona; it was a good day,” Palou said. “I’m trying to get used to the track, and it was nice to drive under the lights. The car is fast and hopefully, we can keep improving and get ready for next week.”

Ganassi teammate Earl Bamber ranked fourth and was followed by 2016 Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi, who turned his first laps of the weekend in the No. 10 of WTR.

Jimmie Johnson, who is trying to win his first Rolex 24 in his ninth start, was the 12th-fastest driver in the second practice Friday, turning a lap of 1:35.795 in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac of Action Express (which also fields the reigning DPi champion No. 31).

“I’m very thankful that we came and tested in December, just to get the drivers, especially myself, the reps and up to speed so the limited laps that you get here at the Roar don’t spook you,” said Johnson, who returns with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Rockenfeller in the car that finished second last year. “I feel very comfortable. We still have a little bit of work to do on the car, but from a new environment with (new teammate) Jose (Maria Lopez) coming on board, the teamwork between the (Nos.) 31 and 48, we’re having a lot of fun, and it’s a very good race team.”

Here were the fastest drivers in other classes during Session 2:

LMP2: Rene Rast, No. 68 ORECA, G-Drive Racing By APR

LMP3: Malthe Jakobsen, No. 33 Ligier, Sean Creech Motorsport

GTD PRO: Mirko Bortolotti, No. 63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, TR3 Racing

GTD: Raffaele Marciello, No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Sun Energy 1

There will be another practice Saturday morning before qualifying for the second annual Motul 100 race. Sunday’s 100-minute race (which will be streamed on Peacock) will set the starting lineup for the 60th Rolex 24 at Daytona, which will take place Jan. 29-30.

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