Update — The final purse for Josef Newgarden ended up being $3.66 million while the overall winnings were just over $17 million.
The 2022 Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday, May 28th. The 500-mile race will get started at approximately 12:45 p.m. ET and will air on NBC and Peacock.
Alex Palou claimed pole position last week with a record-setting performance and looks to secure his first career win at the Brickyard. He heads into the race as the IndyCar Series points leader and is a +600 favorite to win the face at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Palou and the rest of the field will be competing for a prize pool that will be into the eight figures. The full purse is not yet known, but it will likely be near or exceed last year’s record prize pool of $16,000,200. Marcus Ericsson won the race and took home $3.1 million in prize money from that total purse. Pato O’Ward finished second and took home an even $1 million in prize money. The average driver payout last year was $485,000. The rookie of the year award earned Jimmie Johnson a $50,000 bonus.
Prior to last year, the record prize purse was $14.4 million in 2008. Over the previous 15 races, not including the COVID-impacted years, the winner earned anywhere from $2,353,355 (Tony Kanaan, 2013) to $3,048,005 (Hélio Castroneves, 2009), per the Indy Star.
We’ll update this article with the full prize pool information after it is announced on Monday.