How much did Alex Palou win at the Indy 500? Full payout breakdown for winner of the 2025 race

Teddy Ricketson

How much did Alex Palou win at the Indy 500? Full payout breakdown for winner of the 2025 race image

The 109th running of the legendary Indy 500 was riddled with spots of rain and several wrecks, but the most exciting race of the IndyCar season lived up to the hype

When the dust settled on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Alex Palou found himself as the winner.

Thirty-three drivers began the race, but they quickly started dropping like flies. Scott McLaughlin wrecked during warm-ups, which set the tone for the day. Kyle Larson was attempting to pull double duty by running the full Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600, but he wrecked on lap 92 and got in a helicopter to head to Charlotte where he hoped to fare better. Two-time reigning champ Josef Newgarden saw his dream of a three-peat end because of a fuel pressure issue.

Here is more on how much money Palou has earned as the winner of the 2025 Indy 500. 

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Indy 500 purse

The total purse for the 2025 Indy 500 was estimated to be between $19 and $20 million. The official total has not yet been announced, but the 2024 purse ended up being $18.456 million.

If that figure is passed, as expected, it would be the largest purse in race history. 

How much money did Alex Palou win at the Indy 500?

The winner's prize money has not been announced, but it was estimated to be between $4.5 and $5 million. This takes into consideration the total purse pool, as well as the assumed increase from last year's winner, who took home $4.288 million.

The total prize money depends on laps led, sponsorships, and the pole winner. The Indy 500 winner does not get a flat, pre-determined percentage of the total purse. 

This section will be updated when payout information is released. 

Indy 500 purse payouts

Every driver who races in the Indy 500, will earn some form of money. 

*This will be updated when payout information is released. 

PositionDriverPayout
1Alex Palou 
2David Malukas 
3Pato O'Ward 
4Felix Rosenqvist 
5Kyle Kirkwood 
6Santino Ferrucci 
7Christian Rasmussen 
8Christian Lundgaard 
9Conor Daly 
10Takuma Sato 
11Callum Ilott 
12Helio Castroneves 
13Devlin DeFrancesco 
14Louis Foster 
15Nolan Siegel 
16Colton Herta 
17Ed Carpenter 
18Will Power 
19Graham Rahal 
20Marcus Armstrong 
21Jack Harvey 
22Scott Dixon 
23Ryan Hunter-Reay 
24Josef Newgarden 
25Sting Ray Robb 
26Kyle Larson 
27Kyffin Simpson 
28Robert Shwartzman 
29Rinus Veekay 
30Alexander Rossi 
31Marcus Ericsson* 
32Kyle Kirkwood* 
33Marco Andretti 
34Scott McLaughlin 

*Ericsson and Kirkwood finished P2 and P6, respectively. However, they were docked prize money and championship points after their cars were found to have used unapproved modifications in the post-race inspection. 

Teddy Ricketson

Teddy Ricketson is a Digital Content Producer at The Sporting News. He joined the team in 2024 after spending the last three years writing for Vox Media as part of its DK Nation/Network team. Teddy does his best to support the South Carolina Gamecocks and Carolina Panthers, but tends to have more fun cheering on the Atlanta Braves. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife, Brooke, and their two dogs, Bo and Hootie.