Andretti Autosport’s Takuma Sato drove to a well-deserved win in Sunday’s running of the Indianapolis 500 and will forever have his likeness engraved into the Borg Warner Trophy – but he received a lot more than a trophy and bragging rights for his big win.
Sato earned $2,458,129 from an overall purse of $13,178,359 for his victory Sunday. Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, who Sato beat to the finish by just .2011 of a second, took home a prize of $770,629. Rookie Ed Jones, who turned in a spectacular performance to bring his Dale Coyne Racing Honda home in third, won $535,629.
There’s lots of money on the table at Indy, so it’s not just the podium finishers that get a significant injection of cash into their checking accounts. Max Chilton, who led a race-high 50 laps Sunday and came home fourth, won $484,129, while Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five with $438,129. Pole-sitter Scott Dixon, who retired from the race after suffering a heavy crash early on, earned $446,629.
Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso, who ran near the front of the pack for much of the day before suffering a heartbreaking engine failure, earned $305,805 for his efforts and an additional $50,000 for taking ‘Sunoco Rookie of the Year’ honors. Alonso also qualified fifth, the best result of any Indy rookie, and led 27 laps.
Comments
The drivers don’t get the cash, the team owner does. A top flight driver may get a percentage of winnings (as much as 40%) on top of a salary. Lesser drivers could walk away with little or nothing.
Don’t expect accurate reporting from GM Authority…
Finally an Asian won…FINALLY. The lack of any positive results (podium finishes) for Asian drivers even though they make up over 60% of the world’s population reaffirmed a long-held stereotype for a very long time. Will they make podium again in the near future? Unsure…
Well DumbDs, the Asian races may be the most populating the world, but this is a U.S. established car race on U.S. soil and sponsored mostly by U.S. and other North American companies.
When the Japanese hold their own “Tokyo 500” or similar race and a driver from the U.S. win THAT race, then we will acknowledge your grudge!! BTW, you name is appropriate for your post!!
The make up of who drives is driven by the paying sponsored. That is why so many com from Brazil.
Most Asian drivers are supported by the Asian engine MFG in open wheel. Also Japan has a pretty extensive choice of open wheel series options in their country and region.
Sato has Panasonic family money behind him plus the influence of Honda and don’t forget Firestone which is owned by Bridgestone of Japan. So, a Japanese winner is +++ for Indycar, at least from a vendor/sponsor perspective. And, everyone must admit, he has large appendages (as David Hobbs would say).