Sawt Falasteen - Ericsson earns $3.1 mn for Indy 500 victory

Ericsson, who held off Mexico's Pato O'Ward in a two-lap sprint after a late red flag halted the race, earned the largest winner's payout in the history of the fabled race on the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 106th Indy 500 drew a crowd estimated by the track at more than 325,000 as the speedway returned to full capacity for the first time in three years.

The purse was an increase of more than 80 percent over the prize money from 2001, when the number of fans was limited to 135,000.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon.

Ericsson's haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million -- 2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Second-place finisher O'Ward took home $1 million.

The purse awards were presented Monday in a ceremony at an Indianapolis hotel.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished 28th in his Indy 500 debut, earned a $50,000 bonus as the rookie of the year, bringing his total to $207,900.

Johnson qualified 12th for the race, but crashed heavily with five laps remaining to prompt officials to halt the race as they cleared debris from the track.

Z.AbuSaud--SF-PST