Should Josef Newgarden win the Indianapolis 500 again this year, it will earn him an extra $440,000, courtesy of BorgWarner. The company’s rolling jackpot for back-to-back winners increases by $20,000 each year, and has been claimed only once since the system was established in 1995, for another Team Penske driver, Helio Castroneves, who triumphed in both 2001 and ’02.
In fact, the odds would appear to be against Newgarden in that there have been back-to-back winners only five times since the first Indy 500 in 1911. Those were Wilbur Shaw (1939 and ’40), Mauri Rose (’47 and ’48), Bill Vukovich (’53 and ’54), Al Unser (’70 and ’71), and Castroneves.
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“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 Frédéric Lissalde, president and CEO, BorgWarner. “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.”
Next week’s 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 will see the winner’s visage cast in sterling silver and mounted on the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy, and will later be presented with the BorgWarner Championship Driver’s Trophy – a.k.a. the “Baby Borg” – a miniature version of the 110-pound sterling silver Borg-Warner Trophy.
Should Newgarden not win, funds for the jackpot will roll over to the 2025 Indy 500 with an additional $20,000 to the total prize.