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Indianapolis 500 Betting News and Notes

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Indianapolis 500 odds showing wide-open race Sunday
By Micah Roberts
Sportingnews.com

Scott Dixon remains the favorite but strong qualifying sessions brought many drivers into contention — at least as far as the oddsmakers are concerned.

After one week of practice and qualifying sessions in preparation for Sunday's 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the odds board at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has been drastically altered from what was posted last week.

Scott Dixon, winner of the 2008 Indy 500, remains the favorite to win, but his odds have been raised from 5-to-1 up to 7-to-1 because so many other drivers showed themselves capable of winning.

Team Penske is another group of drivers that had their odds raised. All four of them were listed at 8-to-1 or less last week, but two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya (starts 17th) is now 10-to-1. Three-time winner Helio Castroneves is 12-to-1. Simon Pagenaud, winner of three of the five IndyCar races this season was raised from 8-to-1 to 12-to-1. Will Power has the best starting position on the team from the sixth slot and also was raised from 8-to-1 to 12-to-1.

So what gives? It wasn't like the Penske drivers were slow. They've won four races this season, albeit on street or road circuits, and a Chevy has won all five.

SuperBook manager Ed Salmons said he was impressed by the speed Honda showed, which is why he tightened the numbers on some and raised others, like Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, to balance out his theoretic hold percentage.

Four of the top five start positions are Hondas led by James Hinchcliffe on the pole — his odds were chopped in half from 30-to-1 to 15-to-1.

The biggest game changer over the past week by Honda in regards to the odds was the performance of Andretti Autosport with 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay starting third and having his odds drop from 20-to-1 to 8-to-1. Townsend Bell (starts fourth) and Carlos Munoz (starts fifth) also had their odds slashed, but the biggest mover on the board from a legitimate contender was Alexander Rossi from 100-to-1 down to 20-to-1.

With all the changes, there is great value with the Penske drivers, particularly Montoya. There's a reason why Roger Penske has won a race record 16 times. In the later stages of the race, at least two of the Penske drivers should be competing for the win.

Here's a look at all the updated odds with last weeks numbers in parenthesis:

Odds to win Indianapolis 500

SCOTTDIXON 7/1 (5/1)
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA 10/1 (6/1)
HELIO CASTRONEVES 12/1 (6/1)
TONY KANAAN 12/1 (8/1)
WILL POWER 12/1 (8/1)
SIMON PAGENAUD 12/1 (8/1)
ED CARPENTER 20/1 (12/1)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN 8/1 (12/1)
MARCO ANDRETTI 10/1 (20/1)
RYAN HUNTER-REAY 8/1 (20/1)
GRAHAM RAHAL 15/1 (25/1)
CARLOS MUNOZ 12/1 (30/1)
JR HILDEBRAND 25/1 (25/1
CHARLIE KIMBALL 20/1 (25/1)
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE 15/1 (30/1)
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS 100/1 (60/1)
MAX CHILTON 100/1 (40/1)
TAKUMA SATO 100/1
MIKHAIL ALESHIN 40/1 (100/1)
LUCA FILIPPI (100/1)
TOWNSEND BELL 15/1 (80/1)
ALEX TAGLIANI 200/1 (80/1)
ORIOL SERVIA 60/1 (80/1)
SAGE KARAM 30/1 (80/1)
BUDDY LAZIER 500/1 (100/1)
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA XX
JACK HAWKSWORTH 200/1 (80/1)
ALEXANDER ROSSI 20/1 (100/1)
SPENCER PIGOT 300/1 (100/1)
FIELD (all other drivers) 50/1 (40/1)

 
Posted : May 24, 2016 6:56 pm
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