INDIANAPOLIS – Without fans in attendance for the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge; necessary modifications had to be made to the purse for the 33 drivers in the field.
Instead of $15 million, the purse was reduced to $7.5 million.
Takuma Sato, however, still collected $1,370,500 from the overall purse of $7,502.500 for winning Sunday’s race, his second victory in the Indianapolis 500.
The driver from Tokyo, Japan, is the 20th racer to win the Indianapolis 500 at least twice. He drove the No. 30 Panasonic/PeopleReady Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to victory in Sunday’s COVID-19 delayed Indianapolis 500.
Sato’s previous win came in 2017 with Andretti Autosport. It was the second Indianapolis 500 victory for the organization co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, which also won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with Buddy Rice.
Sato inherited the lead on lap 185 after a round of pit stops and was locked in a stirring late-race duel with 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon. He won the race under caution after Spencer Pigot crashed on lap 195. Sato led 27 laps in the race after starting from the third position.
Dixon, from Auckland, New Zealand, earned $505,000 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for his second-place finish. The five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion led a race-high 111 laps.
Sato’s RLLR teammate Graham Rahal earned $403,500 for finishing third in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda.
Defending Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Santino Ferrucci earned $300,000 for finishing fourth in the No. 18 SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan.
Rounding out the top five was defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, who earned $251,000 for his fifth-place finish in the No. 1 Shell V-Power Nitro Team Penske Chevrolet.
Pato O’Ward earned $250,500 for finishing sixth in the Indianapolis 500 after starting 15th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, including $50,000 for being named Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. O’Ward was the highest-finishing rookie among the five drivers making their first Indianapolis 500 starts this year.
The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT IndyCar Series awards, plus other designated and special awards.
Sato, O’Ward and other top finishers from this year’s Indianapolis 500 will be honored in the one-hour 104th Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge Victory Special at 8 p.m. (ET) on Indianapolis’ NBC affiliate, WTHR-13. The show will be available on IndyCar Pass on NBC Sports Gold on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 25.