BorgWarner, the namesake of the historic trophy for the Indy 500, has increased the prize by $20,000 each year since 1995, increasing riches and monetary rewards for any driver that visits Victory Lane in consecutive years.
The prize money has only been claimed once, which came courtesy of Helio Castroneves after repeat wins in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 2001 and 2002.
Since the first race in 1911, only four other drivers have managed to claim back-to-back Indy 500 wins, including Wilbur Shaw (1939-1940), Mauri Rose (1947-1948), Bill Vukovich (1953-1954) and Al Unser Sr (1970-1971).
“BorgWarner looks forward to the excitement of the Indianapolis 500 every year, and we’re thrilled to increase the stakes even further for Josef Newgarden this year with the rolling jackpot prize,” said BorgWarner president and CEO Frédéric Lissalde.
“We’re anxious to see if Newgarden will meet me in Victory Circle for the second consecutive year and cash in on the jackpot for the first time in over 20 years.”
To put the prize on the line for Newgarden into context, the purse size for the 33-car field in the 1962 Indy 500 was $426,152. The winner’s earnings didn’t break the mark on offer until 1985, when Danny Sullivan hit $517,662 for his famous ‘Spin and Win’ run to victory.
Last year’s Indy 500 saw Newgarden take home $3.666 million after his dramatic last-lap victory over 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson, who was half a lap away from collecting a BorgWarner jackpot of $420,000.
Beyond winning the rolling jackpot, if Newgarden wins again, he will once again have the honor of his likeness being sculpted, cast in sterling silver and mounted on the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy.
Following the celebrations, he will be presented with the BorgWarner Championship Driver’s Trophy - or the “Baby Borg” - a miniature version of the much larger 110-pound sterling silver Borg-Warner Trophy.
If Newgarden does not win, the funds for the jackpot will roll over to the 2025 Indy 500 with an additional $20,000 to the total prize.
