Indy Pro teams to compete for $4M purse

The Indy Pro Series is making an effort to pay out more money to teams than the Champ Car Atlantic series, which could result in Atlantic teams jumping ship…..maybe. Although the purse is up, so too are the number of races a year – now 16. So although the purse is going up 24 percent, the number of races is going up by a bigger percent, so it is a bit of propaganda to say the purse is up. On a per race basis it is not.

IndyCar.com Story

Indy Pro Series teams and drivers will compete for almost $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," Indy Pro Series Executive Director Roger Bailey said. “The increase is one of the major factors driving our growth and shows the commitment we have for teams, drivers and sponsors. The Indy Pro Series is one of the healthiest series in motorsports."

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." IndyCar.com