The 105th running of the Indy 500 is set for Sunday on NBC and it is pole sitter Scott Dixon listed as the favorite at odds of +350. Right beside Dixon on the starting grid is Colton Herta and he is the second choice in Indianapolis 500 betting at odds of +600. Sunday’s race is expected to be very competitive, as the margin between Dixon and the worst qualifier is the third-closest in Indy 500 history. Let’s take a look at Indy 500 odds and Indy 500 picks.
105th Indy 500 Betting Odds
Scott Dixon +350
Colton Herta +600
Pato O'Ward +1000
Josef Newgarden +1200
Alexander Rossi +1200
Alex Palou +1400
Graham Rahal +1600
Tony Kanaan +1600
Rinus VeeKay +1600
Takuma Sato +1800
Marcus Ericsson 2200
Simon Pagenaud +2200
Will Power +2600
Ed Carpenter +2600
Helio Castroneves +3000
Scott McLaughlin +3200
Juan Pablo Montoya +3500
Conor Daly +5000
Marco Andretti +5000
Santino Ferrucci +5000
Ed Jones +6600
Jack Harvey +6600
All other drivers are listed with odds of +10000 or more.
Race Facts
There are nine former race winners in the field. They are Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Alexander Rossi, Takuma Sato, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. The two drivers making their first Indy 500 start are Pietro Fittipaldi and Scott McLaughlin.
A total of 17 cars will be powered by Honda engines, while Chevy will power a total of 16 cars.
This year’s field should be tightly bunched because it is the third-closest field in Indy 500 history, by time. The gap between pole sitter Scott Dixon and the slowest qualifier, Dalton Kellett is just 2.288 seconds. The record of the youngest driver to win the Indy 500 is 22 years old, while the record for the oldest winner is 47 years old. Helio Castroneves is trying to win a record-tying fourth Indy 500 title.
Favorite
Scott Dixon +350
It is hard to argue with picking Dixon to win this race. He led last year’s Indy 500 for 111 laps, but a late caution hurt his chances. Dixon already has a win this season and he has experience winning the Indy 500 from the pole, as he did it in 2008.
Other Contenders
I think you can go at least eight deep for the list of contenders behind Dixon. Herta is next in the odds, and he is starting right beside Dixon. Those two drivers are the only ones listed at single-digit odds. You can throw a net around the next few drivers, as O’Ward, Newgarden, Rossi, Palou, Rahal, Kanaan and VeeKay are listed between 10-1 and 16-1.
Longshots
This year’s Indy 500 could be a good one to back a longshot. One of the best IndyCar drivers is Simon Pagenaud and you can get him at odds of more than 20-1. A couple of other drivers worth a look at Scott McLaughlin at odds of 32-1 and Santino Ferrucci at odds of 50-1. McLaughlin is a rookie, but rookies have won the Indy 500 in the past and McLaughlin was very competitive in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, as he finished eighth. Ferrucci has two previous Indy 500 starts and finished seventh and fourth. He is driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and they were the winning team for Takuma Sato last year.
Indy 500 Starting Grid
Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Engine
Row 1
1st – Scott Dixon – #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
2nd – Colton Herta – #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda
3rd – Rinus VeeKay – #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
Row 2
4th – Ed Carpenter – #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
5th – Tony Kanaan – #48, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
6th – Alex Palou – #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Row 3
7th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
8th – Helio Castroneves – #06, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
9th – Marcus Ericsson – #8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Row 4
10th – Alexander Rossi – #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
11th – Ed Jones – #18, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan, Honda
12th – Pato O’Ward – #5, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
Row 5
13th – Pietro Fittipaldi – #51, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR, Honda
14th – Felix Rosenqvist – #7, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
15th – Takuma Sato – #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
Row 6
16th – James Hinchcliffe – #29, Andretti Autosport, Honda
17th – Scott McLaughlin – #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet
18th – Graham Rahal – #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
Row 7
19th – Conor Daly – #47, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
20th – Jack Harvey – #60, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda
21st – Josef Newgarden – #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet
Row 8
22nd – J.R. Hildebrand – #1, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
23rd – Santino Ferrucci – #45, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
24th – Juan Pablo Montoya – #86, Arrow McLaren SP, Chevrolet
Row 9
25th – Marco Andretti – #98, Andretti Herta-Haupert Autosport, Honda
26th – Simon Pagenaud – #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet
27th – Sebastien Bourdais – #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
Row 10
28th – Stefan Wilson – #25, Andretti Autosport, Honda
29th – Max Chilton – #59, Carlin, Chevrolet
30th – Dalton Kellett – #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
Row 11
31st – Sage Karam – #24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet
32nd – Will Power – #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
33rd – Simona de Silvestro – #16, Paretta Autosport, Chevrolet
Indy 500 Picks
If you want to take Dixon I am not going to argue, but I will look for a little more value and go with VeeKay at odds of +1600. VeeKay will be racing in just his second Indianapolis 500 and he is just 20-years old, but he definitely has a shot. He led for 33 laps at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and won the race. It should be noted that the winner of the Grand Prix also won the Indy 500 in 2018 and in 2019. In terms of longshots, I can’t leave out Helio Castroneves at odds of +1600. He is starting from the third row and will be trying to make history. I also will take a flyer on Ferrucci at odds of 50-1.
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