Rain may have washed away the race's second round of qualifying on May 11 but many bookmakers, looking for maximum wagering mileage, raced to open their windows for Indy 500 betting on the annual Memorial weekend American racing classic at the Brickyard, Sunday, May 25.
With the top 11 spots in the starting grid locked in and a pretty good idea of which drivers would fill the remaining 22 openings-hey, every future book involves risk--bet takers quickly established pole-sitter Scott Dixon as the 3/1 favorite. The New Zealand native won the Indy Racing League Championship in his rookie season in 2003 and was second in the last year's Indy 500.
England's Dan Weldon, Dixon's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, qualified second and was listed as the second choice (that makes sense) at odds of 7/2. Weldon won the 2005 running of the Indianapolis 500, the same year he recorded a record six victories on the circuit.
Brazil's Tony Kannan, who will start from the No. 6 slot, was next in line on the odds board at 4/1. Kanaan, the 2004 open wheel champion, is the only driver to have led laps in each of the last six Indy 500 races.
Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick and Hideki Mutoh, teammates of Kanaan on Andretti Green Racing, also qualified in the top 11. Andretti, the 2006 Rookie of the Year when he finished second at the Brickyard and the youngest winner ever of an open wheel event, will start from the inside of row 3, the No. 7 position, at odds of 8/1.
Patrick, who gained her first open wheel victory last month in Japan, qualified sixth. A fourth place finisher at the Brickyard in 2005, Patrick is offered at odds of 10/1.
Mutoh, a rookie from Japan, starts from the ninth position for AGR at odds of 30/1.
Australia's Ryan Briscoe and Brazil's Helio Castroneves are members of yet another powerful unit, Team Penske. The duo qualified third and fourth, respectively. Briscoe, a former Formula One test driver, finished fifth in the 2007 running of the Indy 500 and is quoted at odds of 16/1 this year. Castroneves, who became the first driver since Al Unser in 1970 and '71 to win back-to-back Indy 500 races when he accomplished the feat in 2001 and 2002, is well-respected in the future book at odds of 9/2.
Members of Ganassi, AGR and Penske occupy eight of the top 11 spots, leaving room for only three “outsiders,” Vitor Meira, Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter. Meira, another Brazilian, is held at odds of 30/1 from the No. 8 position; Carpenter is 65/1 from No. 10; and South Africa's Scheckter is offered at odds of 40/1 from No. 11.
Although all other drivers had to wait another six days to qualify after the May 11 rainout, bookmakers hastily posted odds on drivers such as 2004 race winner Buddy Rice (65/1), Sarah Fisher 100/1), the first woman to win an Indy Car pole, Graham Rahal (80/1), Ryan Hunter Reay (35/1), Justin Wilson (65/1), Ernesto Viso 60/1), A.J. Foyt IV (100/1), Will Power (100/1) and Oriol Servia (100/1). Of course, bet takers could be expected to adjust their prices following the final round of qualifying.
In addition to straight wagering, many sportsbooks will be offering a series of proposition bets on the Indy 500. If past history is any indicator of the future, some books will offer a wager matching one or more of the Indy 500 drivers against one or more of the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers competing in that same day's Coca-Cola 600 as to which will have a higher finish.
Interestingly, both 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti and 2006 champion Sam Hornish Jr. now are on the NASCAR circuit.
A fast car and a quality driver are staples for wagering success but even the novice gambler should understand that good fortune also can be a key and that successful Indy 500 betting often requires both skill and luck.
