Leaders Circle: The IndyCar championship you may not know about

IndyCar’s 2024 title was decided in favor of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou this weekend — but while all eyes were on the battle for the championship, an equally pressing race was playing out at the rear of the field.

This was the battle for the final slots in the Leaders Circle, a championship within a championship designed to keep race teams viable by awarding the best-placing cars with $1 million. But how did it shake out in 2024? Let’s dig in.

The IndyCar Leaders Circle: Explained

The Leaders Circle is the name given for what is effectively a socialized distribution of prize money among IndyCar’s top 22 entries every season. Those 22 teams all earn the same amount of money — roughly $1 million — in an attempt to make the championship fair for everyone.

The system debuted in the 2000s at a time when American open-wheel racing was really struggling. Rather than cut a big paycheck for the winner of the season, followed by decreasing paychecks for everyone else depending on championship order, all of a season’s prize money is pooled together and then doled out equally.

The initial goal was to avoid losing teams to bankruptcy or other financial losses, as well as to prevent any dominant team from maintaining its dominance with a hefty paycheck each year. The three best full-time entrants from every team are eligible to compete for Leaders Circle funding.

However, as IndyCar has evolved and more teams enter, the race to get you car in the Leaders Circle at the end of the year has made for a compelling championship in and of itself.

This year, 25 full-time entries were eligible for bonus $1 million from the Leaders Circle, but only 22 would qualify. Also worth noting is that the car qualifies for the Leaders Circle, not the driver — so if five drivers race the same car, the results of those five drivers all count toward the same car’s Leaders Circle total.

More conclusions from the 2024 IndyCar season:

👉 Alex Palou challenges for ‘greatest of all time’ title with third IndyCar championship

👉 IndyCar 2024 in review: Exhibition races are a mistake that distract from the championship

It may sound minor, but the promise of Leaders Circle money has influenced some critical decisions this year.

Take the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing machine, for example. The ride was split between Christian Rasmussen (street and road courses) and Ed Carpenter (0vals). But coming into the Milwaukee doubleheader, Carpenter announced that he’d be stepping back from the drivers’ seat on ovals, and he’d hand the car over to Rasmussen.

While Carpenter did state that his reasons for doing so were more linked with his need to sort out the ECR driver lineup for 2024 (after all, in most IndyCar seasons, all the oval races are wrapped up much earlier in the year), there was perhaps a different reason: Leaders Circle money.

Carpenter’s performances behind the wheel just weren’t cutting it, and the No. 20 was teetering on the brink of Leaders Circle eligibility. With Rasmussen behind the wheel, though, the car made the cut — and took home that $1 million prize.

Not all stories this season have been as heartwarming, though.

In Iowa, for example, Jack Harvey was forced to start the first race of the weekend despite suffering from debilitating neck pain. Why? Leaders Circle money.

See, Harvey had qualified the car only to realize that he was not going to be able to endure a full race distance. But it was too late to swap in a reserve driver; per IndyCar’s rulebook, that driver would have needed to complete some laps in practice before hopping into the car for the race.

Harvey was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he withdrew from the race, he knew he would be disqualifying the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car from Leaders Circle eligibility, because failing to start a race would mean the car no longer qualified as a full-time entry.

If he wanted to help the team, he’d have to take the start — despite the pain. And he did before withdrawing from the race 28 laps in.

“I have a lot of respect for Dale and everyone at Dale Coyne Racing,” Harvey said at the time, “and I really wanted to do my part, and that today was to start the race.”

Unfortunately, the No. 18 didn’t make the Leaders Circle cut in 2024.

While newer fans may not know much about the Leaders Circle, understanding how it works can help explain some of the more perplexing driver decisions throughout a season.

When Juncos Hollinger Racing released Agustin Canapino from the No. 78, the team signed Conor Daly to finish out the season. Why? Because Daly was reliable — and his third-place finish at Milwaukee’s first race justified their faith.

When Meyer Shank Racing released Tom Blomqvist from the No. 66, it brought in David Malukas. Why? Because the team had hope Malukas could outperform Blomqvist and bring the No. 66 home well within the Leaders Circle points.

It also helps explain why drivers like Sting Ray Robb haven’t been re-signed for 2024; he didn’t make the Leaders Circle cut, depriving A. J. Foyt of a cool $1 million.

Read next: No, Colton Herta is not eligible for a Formula 1 Super License — yet