1. Indy 500 Snake Pit presented by Coors Light The Indy 500 Snake Pit presented by Coors Light is the ultimate festival of fun, friends and some of the biggest electronic music acts in the world – all while Indy cars roar past at 230 mph. The Snake Pit is the perfect start of a.
2. On February 28, 2019, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced that they would once again return to run the Indy 500, retaining driver Sage Karam for the fourth consecutive year. On April 22, the team announced that J. Hildebrand would return to drive for the team at the Indy 500 for the second year in a row, this time driving with the No. 48 to honor Dan Gurney.

The 103rd Indianapolis 500 takes place on Sunday, May 26. This year’s Indianapolis 500 boasts 5 drivers offering odds of less than +1000. Check out our 2019 Indy 500 odds and a betting analysis of the field. 2019 Indy 500 Odds & Preview When: May 26 at 11:00am ET Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway TV: NBC Live Stream: NBCSports.com 2019 Indianapolis Read More.

Yesterday, we looked at average performance across the last five Indy 500s, but today we're going to change gears and look at individual race performance over the last five years. We will use the weighted driver ranking (based on finishing position, average green flag lead lap running position and average green flag lap speed) and see who has had the best performance in a single race.
Let's start with the top ten single race performances of the last year:
As you can see, three of the five race winners were in the top ten, including the top two single race performances. In fact, the two races that were largely a battle between two drivers (2018 and 2014) make up the top two spots on the board. Notably, Will Power is the only driver to appear on this list twice, with both his 2018 victory and his 2015 runner up finish appearing on the list.

When we expand this list to 25, we get our other two race winners, Montoya and Rossi. Castroneves manages to have three of the top 25 single race performances, while Hunter Reay, Munoz, Dixon, Pagenaud, Kanaan and Rossi all have two spots on the list. Rossi's win is actually lower than his defense in rating, which isn't too surprising given his 2016 win was a fuel mileage run to the finish/ Additionally, despite many good finishes from Indy 500 rookies over the past few years, only two rookie performances make the top 25: Rossi's 2016 victory and Alonso's 2017 run.
Just for kicks and giggles, lets make this a full field of 33.
Because of a few ties, we're going to have to add a could cars to the field like it's 1997 all over again. Amazingly, Dixon adds two more races, while Castroneves also gets a fourth race in the top 33. This means Dixon and Castroneves both have only one race in the last five years that wasn't--at least by the statistics we are using--among the top 20% of the last five years. That's pretty incredible consistency.
Of the drivers to appear in the top 33 of performances, only one winner has only one race in the top 33: Takuma Sato.
Based on recent performance, I think we can narrow our list to favorites to nine drivers, in three tiers.
Tier A: Castroneves, Dixon, Kanaan
Tier B: Power, Rossi, Hunter-Reay
Tier C: Pagenaud, Newgarden, Andretti
You could make a case for Alonso being on the list since his only start landed him in the top 25 over the last five years. Additionally, if Munoz or Montoya had a ride, either would certainly be in Tier B. I realize picking a quarter of the cars entered is a bit of a cheat, but I believe the winner will come from one of these nine cars. If they do not, I would consider that a mild upset.
Tomorrow we'll have a look at starting position, to celebrate the end of qualifications.
For the complete chart of single race ratings over the last five years, click here.
- checkered flag -

The 104th edition of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for August 23, 2020 in Speedway, Indiana. The 500-mile race is one of the most prestigious in all of motor sports. Together with the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it forms the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

Best Indy 500 betting sites

Indy 500 betting odds 2021

Scott Dixon is the betting favorite at the Indy 500, but a group of drivers isn’t far behind at around +800 (8/1) odds. That cluster includes Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti, who held off Dixon in qualifying to win the Indy 500 pole. See below for betting odds to win the 2020 Indy 500.

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How to bet on the Indianapolis 500

Betting on race cars bears some similarities to horseracing. So, if you are familiar with handicapping the ponies, there will be some familiar ground here.

Pick the Winner

The first and simplest type of Indianapolis 500 wager is to pick the eventual winner. Almost every site that offers betting on motorsports will have this kind of wager available.

The odds on these types of bets are usually fairly long, even for the favorites. There are simply too many variables in motorsports that can affect the outcome of a race.

As a result, even the favorites don’t less than 6-1 odds.

Even past winners, such as Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, are available at odds higher than 10:1 right now. So, there is quite a bit of variance in these kinds of situations.

Top Three Finish

Those accustomed to betting on horse races will recognize this style of betting. For all intents and purposes, betting on a top three finish is the same as a win-place-show bet on a particular horse.

Basically, this type of bet means that the bettor believes the chosen driver will finish somewhere in the top three. Given how long the odds are for any of the drivers in the field, it’s understandable that bettors would want a bit of leeway in the finishing order.

Head to Head Matchups

Head-to-head matchups essentially reduce the entire race down to two drivers. A bettor wagers on which of the two will place higher, even if those places are the last two in the field.

These matchups actually use moneylines in order to identify the favorite and underdog in each pairing. So, hypothetically, Will Power could go off at -125 to Helio Castroneves at +145..and so on.

Futures bets

Functionally, a future bet is the same as a pick the winner bet. The bettor is choosing a member of the field to win the race.

However, the difference is time. These bets often occur weeks or months before the race itself.

As a result, they are subject to far more variation due to the risk of drivers suffering injuries, setbacks, or simply falling off their game in the interim time period. So, the odds for these bets can change quite a bit as race time approaches.

Proposition bets

Finally, a proposition bet on Indianapolis 500 tends to involve some sort of gimmick or angle to the wager. In other words, the conditions of the bet may only partially pertain to the driver’s actual ability.

So, a prop bet could be something like a wager on which former champion will place the highest, or perhaps a bet on the winner’s home country. In other words, a prop bet will have an element ancillary to the actual race itself that plays a part in the wager.

Indy 500 Favorites 2019 2020

Indy 500 fast facts

For those in a hurry, here is a quick guide to the upcoming race:

• Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020
• Time: 12:30 p.m. Eastern
• TV: NBC
• Easiest way to watch online: Sign into NBC.com and submit cable subscription information
• Other online viewing options: Hulu, YouTube, Fubo, DirecTV, Sling, and IMS Stream
• Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana
• Distance: 500 miles (about 200 laps around the track)
• Surface: Asphalt and brick
• Race series: IndyCar
• Defending champion: Simon Pagenaud

A brief history of the Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 ran for the first time in 1911, with Ray Harroun winning the inaugural race. Since then, both the race and the racetrack have become one of the most famous auto races in the world. The annual event is often dubbed “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Indy 500 Odds 2019

The 500-mile race takes place in an open-wheel, open-cockpit format, meaning that vehicles’ tires and drivers are exposed to the open air. This format has come to be known as “Indy Car Racing,” due to its presence at this event.

The track itself is a rectangular oval nicknamed “The Brickyard” for its partial brick surfacing. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world, with permanent seating for over 250,000 patrons. On race day, more than 300,000 will watch the race.

As with many venerated sporting events, there are several traditions associated with the Indianapolis 500. Before each race, race officials and a designated singer lead the crowd in a rendition of “Back Home Again in Indiana.”

The winning driver traditionally drinks from a bottle of milk to celebrate his victory. Below is a list of the most recent competitors to sample dairy products at the end of the race.

Recent Indianapolis 500 winners

Indy 500 Favorites 2019

Year	Driver	Country
1996	Buddy Lazier	USA
1997	Arie Luyendyk	Netherlands
1998	Eddie Cheever	USA
1999	Kenny Bräck	Sweden
2000	Juan Pablo Montoya	Colombia
2001	Hélio Castroneves	Brazil
2002	Hélio Castroneves	Brazil
2003	Gil de Ferran	Brazil
2004	Buddy Rice	USA
2005	Dan Wheldon	UK
2006	Sam Hornish Jr.	USA
2007	Dario Franchitti	UK
2008	Scott Dixon	New Zealand
2009	Hélio Castroneves	Brazil
2010	Dario Franchitti	UK
2011	Dan Wheldon	UK
2012	Dario Franchitti	UK
2013	Tony Kanaan	Brazil
2014	Ryan Hunter-Reay	USA
2015	Juan Pablo Montoya	Colombia
2016	Alexander Rossi	USA
2017	Takuma Sato	Japan
2018	Will Power	Australia
2019	Simon Pagenaud	France