Grab the jug of milk and start your engines, the 107th Indianapolis 500 starts on Sunday with the green flag dropping at approximately 12h45 Eastern Time. Last year’s race was won by Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson who benefitted from a penalty called late in the race on Scott Dixon.
Dixon and Ericsson are among the favourites to win this year’s race at multiple legal American sportsbooks and betting sites.
As reported by usalegalbetting.com, sports betting is now legal throughout most of the country, therefore betting enthusiasts will be able to not only watch the race but also to wager on it.
So, to help you make the winning bet here’s a look at some of the updated odds, the favorites and a prediction on which driver will reach Victory Lane Sunday.
Alex Palou
Draft Kings odds +600; FanDuel odds +600
Palou has been the best driver on the IndyCar Series this season, finishing in the top 10 in all five races contested. He’s coming off a win at the GMR Grand Prix held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s cobbled-together road course, so there’s some thought that he runs well at Indy.
He’s also sitting on the pole Sunday and is making his fourth Indy 500 start. His best finish at the Indy 500 was second in 2021.
Pato O’Ward
Draft Kings +750; FanDuel +800
The 24-year-old Mexican had two wins on the NTT IndyCar Series circuit last season and finished seventh in the Driver Standings. This season he’s been second in five races.
But the reason O’Ward is on this list is because of Speed. O’Ward was second in 2022 and had the top practice speed for the GMP Grand Prix, so he knows the Speedway and he knows how to get the most from his No. 5 car.
Scott Dixon
DraftKings +800; FanDuel +800
Dixon, 42, has won the pole five times in his Indy 500 career and won the race back in 2008. He will start sixth in the grid on Sunday.
Like we said earlier, Dixon appeared to have the Indy 500 in hand last year, when he was penalized for speeding while entering pit lane. He ended up finishing 21st. During the race he set the all-time Indy 500 record for most laps led in a career at 665 and counting.
Marcus Ericsson
DraftKings +1100; FanDuel +1300
No one has repeated as Indy 500 champion in 21 years, which is the task facing the 32-year-old. Ericsson has been the talk of qualifying as he still doesn’t have a contract to race for a team next year.
Ericsson is currently third in the Indy Car Driver Standings and won the St Pete Grand Prix in March. He struggled at the GMR Grand Prix finishing eighth.
Takuma Sato
DraftKings +1200; FanDuel +1100
Now 46, Sato only competes part-time on the IndyCar Series and he was the first Asian native to win the race back in 2017. His last win in the series was when he won the Indy 500 in 2020.
Sato deserves consideration this year, because he turned the fastest lap in 27 years in averaging 234.753 miles per hour. He will start eighth in the field.
Our Pick
It’s a field with nine former Indy 500 champions and four rookies. Our pick is for one of the grizzled veterans to come through at the end. Dixon should have won this race last year but was unlucky when his tires locked up entering pit row causing him to draw the penalty.
Dixon has the experience and the car to win Sunday and he deserves to have some luck.
