INDIANAPOLIS — Indy Pro Series teams and drivers will compete for nearly $4 million in 2007, a 24 percent increase over 2006, league officials announced Jan. 8. The total payout includes more than $3.7 million in event prize money plus additional money from contingency awards.
“We’ve gone from $1 million to almost $4 million in two seasons,” said Indy Pro Series Executive Director Roger Bailey. “The increase is one of the major factors driving our growth and shows the commitment we have for teams, drivers and sponsors.”
Four payment schedules are in place for the series-record, 16-race schedule in 2007, which opens March 24 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The biggest purse, $300,000 split among the top 18 finishers, will be paid at the Freedom 100, held on the historic 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the Friday before the Indianapolis 500. The winner of that race will pocket $40,000.
The purse for the remaining seven single races is $275,000 per race. Competitors earn the most return at the four doubleheader weekends. At the Liberty Challenge on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, teams will vie for more than $190,000 in each race while the remaining three doubleheader weekends will pay $187,500 per race ($375,000 total).
“Last year, we had seven teams earn more than a quarter of a million dollars,” Bailey said. “In 2007, teams will make much more.”
While rewarding winning, the balanced payout structure also encourages participation by all teams. A team that finishes 10th in all 16 races would earn more than $189,000 while a team finishing 18th in every race would earn more than $130,000.
“I am absolutely thrilled to learn of the increase in prize money,” said team owner Michael Crawford, whose first-year team recorded eight top-10 finishes in 2006. “The prize money that Michael Crawford Motorsports earned in 2006 has given us the opportunity to improve our program for 2007. I’ve had the belief for a long time that the prize money will draw more teams, drivers and sponsors to the series.”
