The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records. The green flag drops Sunday at 4 p.m. ET with the race televised on NBC. Below, we analyze the Big Machine 400 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Big Machine 400: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturay, July 4 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the largest sporting venue in the world with a capacity of 235,000, will take place in front of no fans due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and social distancing practices.
- Seven-time series champ Jimmie Johnson tested positive for the coronavirus Friday and will miss the race – and likely a few more. His streak of 663 consecutive Cup starts will end – a streak that ranks fifth all time behind Jeff Gordon (797), Ricky Rudd (788), Bobby Labonte (704) and Rusty Wallace (697).
- Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick (+400 for Sunday’s race) is the chalk in Indy. He won last season’s race from the pole position. In 19 career starts at the Brickyard, he has two wins, seven top-5 finishes and 13 top-10 showings, while leading all active drivers with an 8.95 Average-Finish Position (AFP).
- Ford had not won in 18 consecutive Cup races at IMS from 2000-2017 before Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski (+800) broke through for checkers in 2018. With Harvick’s win last season, Ford has consecutive wins at the Indiana 2.5-mile oval for the first time since 1996-97.
- Three of the past seven winners at Indianapolis have come from the No. 1 spot on the starting grid, while six of the previous seven have started ninth or better.
Who is going to win the Big Machine 400?
HARVICK (+400) won last summer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and leads all active drivers with an 8.95 AFP. He has finished eighth or better in each of his past six starts, including top-5 showings in three of the previous five.
Harvick was 13th in the 2013 version of this race. In the previous six starts at the track, Happy has posted a 4.7 AFP.
While Keselowski gets a lot of the attention due to his 2018 win at this track, the more consistent Penske driver at IMS is JOEY LOGANO (+800). He was a runner-up to Harvick last season, and has been the bridesmaid in two of his past five Indianapolis runs. In his previous seven IMS starts he is averaging a 5.9 AFP, making him WORTH A BET.
DENNY HAMLIN (+500) has been delivering consistency in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota lately, including a win at Pocono last Sunday. He has actually never won at Indianapolis in 14 tries, but has a strong 12.4 AFP with five top-5 finishes, eight top-10 showings and 112 laps led with zero DNFs.
Place legal sports betting on NASCAR action in CO, IN, NJ and WV through BetMGM. Sign up and bet at BetMGM now!
KYLE BUSCH (+500) is among the favorites despite the fact he has zero victories so far during the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and there just seems to be something off with the No. 18 team. If Busch and his team can finally figure out the right combination, HE IS A STRONG BET to win at this track. He posted back-to-back wins at IMS in 2015-16.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway long-shot bets
WILLIAM BYRON (+2500) appeared in the long-shot bets section last weekend at Pocono, but was unable to come through. He has been a quick study during the early years of his Cup career, posting a 19th-place finish at Indy in 2018 before improving to fourth in last season’s installment.
RYAN NEWMAN (+8000) is WORTH A SMALL-UNIT BET at this price. He won this race in 2013, and has racked up finishes of 12th or better in eight of his past nine starts at the track. “Rocket Man” is also a Hoosier State native, so he brings more intensity than usual when running on his home turf.
Want action on this race? Sign up and bet at BetMGM. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.
Follow @JoeWilliamsVI on Twitter, and follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1950]