2016 Indy 500 Betting Odds

by Allan Brewer

Having won the pole position for the 2016 Indianapolis 500 it is quite surprising that James Hinchcliffe is not the favorite for racing’s marquee event at the online sportsbooks. In fact, there are a number of other drivers who Las Vegas is giving a better chance to win than the man with the fastest car.

With the race on tap for Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and only one more practice period left (and it is a very short one of an hour on Friday May 27th) it’s hard to see anyone overtaking Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud who opened at 6:1 odds and now stands at 11:2 at VegasInsider.com.

Behind him are teammates Helio Castroneves (going for his fourth victory at the Brickyard) and Juan Pablo Montoya, the winner of the 2015 race. Both have odds of 6:1 to drink the milk on Memorial Day. There are two other familiar names joining at 6:1 in the person of Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and another Pagenaud teammate, Will Power.

Dixon has suffered the most calamitous fall from grace at the window. He started Indianapolis 500 practice as low as 9:2 at some books and a favorite of many to win the race. Unfortunately, struggles on qualifying day left him sitting surprisingly arear of the leaders with the inside position on the fifth row of three cars, and the more difficult challenge of staying out of trouble on the start that comes with that position on the grid.

Hinchcliffe, driving for the relatively unknown-outside-of-racing circles team of quadriplegic owner Sam Schmidt and his partner Gary Peterson, has 10:1 odds to win the race, and is joined at that number by Josef Newgarden of Ed Carpenter Racing, and Tony Kanaan (also with Ganassi). It is notable that Hinch (as he is called by his circle of fans) was nearly killed here a year ago in a practice crash that required many months of rehabilitation. This will be his first attempt at a race as long as the 500-mile race at Indy since that crash occurred a year ago.

Ryan Hunter Reay of Andretti Motorsport lies at 15:1, and the payoff climbs substantially from there with KV Racing’s Sebastian Bourdais 20:1, Marco Andretti 22/1, Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan’s Graham Rahal at 30:1 and everyone else at greater than 35:1. If there is one value play in the field that remains it has to be Townsend Bell, who qualified on the inside of the second row and is a veteran driver known for bringing equipment home in one piece. He has the speed down the straights, and the patience wrought of experience, to overcome the many unknowns that always emerge in the 500.

Pippa Mann is the field’s only female driver and she qualified twenty-fifth. She has had trouble finding speed all month, though she is a capable driver when handed the wheel of a solid car. Unfortunately, neither is likely to appear on race day and her odds reflect that: 150-200:1 for the win.

Allan Brewer

Allan Brewer covers IndyCar and other racing series for RacingNation.com. Allan is a fixture at the race track, armed with keyboard and camera, eager to take you inside open-wheel sport where the news is being made. He comes to RacingNation.com with multiple professional awards from the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AWWRBA). He began his motorsports writing career at FastMachines.com; and solely published IndyProRacer.com and A1GP.com, two award-winning websites for open-wheel racing’s junior leagues, prior to becoming IndyCar correspondent at Motorsport.com. He has also covered Formula 1, NASCAR, Formula E, the Indy Lights Series and its predecessor Indy Pro Series, NHRA events and major auto shows. His major interest outside of competition is automotive technology and its application to the cars we drive every day on the public highways.

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