The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 is set for Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, previously scheduled for May 24. The green flag drops at 1 p.m. ET with the race televised on NBC. Below, we analyze the Indianapolis 500 odds and betting lines, with IndyCar Series picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Indy 500: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud kissed the bricks and drank the celebratory milk after taking checkers in the most recent installment of the Indy 500 on May 26, 2019.
- Team Penske has won back-to-back Indy 500’s, with Will Power winning May 27, 2018. The historic owner also has three Indy wins in the past five starts, as Juan Pablo Montoya raced to the win on May 24, 2015.
- Pagenaud will start on Row 9, with Power going off from Row 8.
- Marco Andretti edged out Scott Dixon during “Fast Nine” qualifying last Sunday by .017, so Andretti will lead the field to the green flag. Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, will also still start on Row 1.
- Seven drivers in the starting grid have won the Indianapolis 500, including Helio Castroneves with three Indy victories.
Who is going to win the Indianapolis 500?
DIXON (+450) is the chalk for the 104th running of the Indy 500, and he is looking for his second brick kiss. He picked up three straight wins to kick off the 2020 season, winning the Genesys 300 on June 6, GMR Grand Prix on July 4, as well as Race 1 of the Grand Prix at Road America on July 11. Five of his six finishes are inside the top 5, and he sits atop the IndyCar Series standings with 244 points.
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PAGENAUD (+1400), the defending 500 champ, sits second in the overall standings. If he is to repeat, he’ll have to win all the way from Row 9. We haven’t had a back-to-back winner since Castroneves in 2001 and 2002, but Pagenaud has the goods to break that drought.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (+1000) doesn’t have an Indy 500 win, but there’s a first time for everything. He has been on a roll, sitting third in the standings with one victory and 191 points. Newgarden won in the second end of the doubleheader in Iowa last time out, and he has back-to-back top-5 finishes. No one is hotter lately.
Indianapolis 500 long-shot bets
If you’re looking for a dark horse, look no further than Arrow McLaren SP driver PATO O’WARD (+4000). He is fourth in standings with 162 points, ahead of the likes of Power and Graham Rahal. O’Ward will fly under the radar leading up to Sunday’s big race, and he is a tremendous value. He enters with four finishes of eighth or better in his past five starts, including a runner-up finish in Race 2 at the Grand Prix at Road America on July 12.
Andretti Motorsport driver COLTON HERTA (+2000) isn’t as big of an underdog as O’Ward, but he is still a pretty strong value. He is seventh in the overall standings with 140 points, and he is on a roll with three top-5 finishes, including a season-best, fourth-place finish at the GMR Grand Prix on July 4. He struggled in Iowa in a doubleheader in mid-July, but other than that he has been rock solid.
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