Juan Pablo Montoya earned $2,449,055 from an overall purse of $13,397,315 for his victory May 24 in the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In driving his No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to victory, Montoya held off reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion and teammate Will Power by 0.1046 of a second – the fourth-closest finish in race history. The Penske pair battled Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in a thrilling final 15 laps. This marks Montoya’s second Indianapolis 500 win, as the Colombian won “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” as a rookie in 2000.
Five of the race’s 37 lead changes occurred in the last 15 laps following a restart when Montoya, who led four times for a total of nine laps, passed Dixon in Turn 1 for second place before overtaking Power exiting Turn 4 to capture the lead on Lap 197. He held the lead for the remainder of the 200-lap event. The nine laps led by Montoya is the third-fewest laps led by a winner. Dan Wheldon led one lap in 2011 and Joe Dawson led two laps in 1912.
The 15-year gap between Montoya’s two Indianapolis 500 triumphs is the longest stretch for a driver. The victory extended team owner Roger Penske’s record of Indy 500 victories to 16.
Power, who earlier this month won the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the IMS road course, earned $792,555 in driving his No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to a runner-up finish, his best in eight “500” starts. Power led the race five times for a total of 23 laps.
Charlie Kimball, who started the race 14th on the grid, also posted a career-best Indianapolis 500 performance in finishing third in his fifth start driving the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Kimball led the race twice for 10 laps and earned $564,055.
Finishing fourth was pole sitter and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Dixon, who earned $615,805 for his performance -- which included $100,000 for earning the Verizon P1 Award as pole winner for the second time in his career – led the most laps of any driver with 84. He also led the most laps in 2008 (115), 2009 (73) and in 2011 (73), and now joins Mario Andretti and Louis Meyer as the only drivers to lead the most laps of an Indianapolis 500 on four occasions.
Graham Rahal drove his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Steak ‘n Shake Honda to a fifth-place finish, the second best of his career at the “500” (finished third in 2011). The highest finisher of all Honda entries, Rahal earned $439,555.
Marco Andretti, who earned $412,055, finished in sixth place in his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Snapple Honda, giving him seven top-10 finishes in 10 Indianapolis 500 starts.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves -- who was the runner-up in last year’s race -- finished seventh for his 12th top-10 finish in 15 starts at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Castroneves, who qualified fifth and led once for two laps in his No. 3 Shell V-Power Nitro+ Team Penske Chevrolet, completed the full 500-mile distance for a record-extending 11th time and earned $482,555.
In his first Indianapolis 500 start, Gabby Chaves of Bogota, Colombia, qualified 26th and finished 16th in his No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Bowers & Wilkins/Curb Honda. Chaves was voted the winner of the prestigious Sunoco Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award and was presented with $399,055, which included a $50,000 bonus from Sunoco.
The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Verizon IndyCar Series awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards were announced and presented at the Victory Awards Celebration presented by Ice Miller Legal Counsel, Contour Hardening, Inc. and Allied Solutions on May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Full results
1. (15) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $2,449,055
2. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $792,555
3. (14) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $564,055
4. (1) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $615,805
5. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 200, Running, $439.555
6. (8) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running, $412,055
7. (5) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $482,555
8. (10) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $246,805
9. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $382,055
10. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $307,805
11. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $378,555
12. (31) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, 200, Running, $368,805
13. (24) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running, $364,055
14. (23) Townsend Bell, Chevrolet, 200, Running, $218,555
15. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running, $355,555
16. (26) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 200, Running, $399,055
17. (20) Alex Tagliani, Honda, 200, Running, $203,305
18. (19) James Jakes, Honda, 200, Running, $347,555
19. (18) Simona de Silvestro, Honda, 200, Running, $200,305
20. (11) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 200, Running, $345,500
21. (6) Justin Wilson, Honda, 199, Running, $211,305
22. (25) Pippa Mann, Honda, 197, Running, $206,805
23. (27) Sebastian Saavedra, Chevrolet, 175, Contact, $200,305
24. (28) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 175, Contact, $205,055
25. (29) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 175, Contact, $344,555
26. (4) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 151, Contact, $375,555
27. (33) James Davison, Honda, 116, Mechanical, $344,055
28. (32) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 116, Mechanical, $344,055
29. (13) Oriol Servia, Honda, 112, Contact, $201,805
30. (12) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 112, Contact, $344,055
31. (30) Bryan Clauson, Chevrolet, 61, Contact, $200,305
32. (21) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 0, Contact, $344,055
33. (22) Conor Daly, Honda, 0, Mechanical, $201,805