Every Memorial Day weekend, a pilgrimage of race fans from across the country come together in Speedway, Indiana for the Indianapolis 500. What most people don't know is that there is an unbelievable amount of money that goes into getting ready for the race, as well as that comes from the race itself. From sponsorship dollars, fan tickets, and merchandise sells, millions upon millions of dollars come from the Indianapolis 500 every year. If you want to experience the race for the first time and watch the money flow on the TV, watch it this Sunday, May, 26th at 11 AM on NBC.

For a race team to enter the race they are going to need about two to eight million dollars to enter the race, while some teams like Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti Autosports have some of the world biggest corporate sponsors on the side of their cars (like, DHL, Verizon, and PNC Bank) to help pay off these costs. For other teams, like Juncos Racing, which showed up to this year's Indy 500 without any primary sponsorship, the teams are going to need to pay top dollar just to get into the race. Why wouldn't a sponsor want to sponsor Juncos Racing? There are just five million people across the world watching the race, not to mention the 200,000+ sitting in the grandstands. Well, when a sponsor is going to put over $900,000 to be a full-time sponsor in Indycar, and then their driver misses the Indy 500, companies like National Guard, and Snapple are reluctant to sponsor these major teams. Some companies aren't scared to take this risk, like in 2016 when Pat McAfee sponsored Indiana native Connor Daly with his company (and a $250,000 check) for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.