Simon Pagenaud earned a whopping $2.6 Million for his Indianapolis 500 victory. (IndyCar Photo)
Simon Pagenaud earned a whopping $2.6 Million for his Indianapolis 500 victory. (IndyCar Photo)

Pagenaud Banks $2.6 Million For Indy Victory

INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud earned $2,669,529 from an overall purse of $13,090,536 for his victory Sunday in the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Pagenaud, from Montmorillon, France, captured his first victory in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. He beat 2016 winner Alexander Rossi to the finish by .2086 of a second to score the record-extending 18th Indianapolis 500 victory for Team Penske.

Pagenaud took the lead for good on lap 199 of the 200-lap race. He led seven times for 116 laps, becoming the first pole sitter to win since Helio Castroneves in 2009.

Rossi, from Nevada City, California, earned $759,179 in the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda. He led five times for 22 laps, continuing his streak of leading in all four of his Indianapolis 500 starts.

2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato earned $540,454 for finishing third in the No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda.

2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden earned $462,904 for finishing fourth in the No. 2 Shell V-Power Nitro Plus Team Penske Chevrolet.

Rounding out the top five was 2018 winner and 2014 series champion Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske Chevrolet, who earned $444,554.

Team Penske placed three cars in the top five.

Santino Ferrucci earned $435,404 for his seventh-place finish after starting 23rd in the No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda, including $50,000 for being named Rookie of the Year. Ferrucci, who led one lap, was the highest-finishing rookie among the six drivers making their first Indianapolis 500 starts this year.