5 Reasons Fans Love Betting On Indycar - Speedway Digest

Indycar is the premium open-wheel racing series in the US. While Formula 1 racing is on the rise, it’s got a long way to go before Americans fully prefer it over Indy. It’s a racing format fans have loved for years and this has led to a rapidly growing betting market.

A quick look at the international sites offering betting not on GamStop at CasinoGam will show you all of them cater to this sport. That wasn’t the case ten or fifteen years ago, so why are fans enjoying Indycar for sports betting? More than that, why does this particular motorsport seem to attract a higher proportion of betting fans than others?

We think we know the answer – and it can be broken down into five key points:

1. The Competitiveness Creates Higher Payouts

The secret to a great sport for bettors is to have a high amount of competition within the field. If multiple people have a fairly equal chance of winning multiple races, the bookmakers don’t have a clue how to price everyone.

It’s vastly different from a motorsport like F1 where you can be reasonably sure that one of the drivers from McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes will win every Grand Prix. Wins from teams outside these big four are rare, so the odds are easier to make.

Indycar differs for a couple of reasons:

It’s a spec series, meaning every car has the same engine and chassis, so the performance is similar throughout the field
Teams have three or four drivers, so any one of them can win a race

The competitiveness makes Indycar so tough to call, meaning you’re bound to come across great odds that end up being almost too good to be true. Bookmakers can’t put drivers as outright favourites because it’s virtually impossible to call. This usually means your bets have higher payouts, which means more money is won – and fans love this!

2. Different Styles Of Races Lead To More Betting Strategies

Indycar races are split into three main formats:

Oval
Road Course
Street Course

Oval racing is similar to what you see in NASCAR; drivers race around an oval track to see who’s the fastest. Road courses are traditional race tracks with multiple corners, different layouts, etc. This is similar to what most F1 races look like. And then you have street courses, which are narrow circuits built within streets for close-contact racing (and usually lots of crashes).

Each option represents a unique style and this makes the races completely different. You could see an oval race one week with an entirely different outcome to a road course the next. It opens the door to being more strategic with your bets; fans analyse which drivers are better on the different circuit formats, so they know who to bet on. Likewise, the type of race lends itself to other betting markets; you’re more likely to get yellow flags and drivers crashing out of street circuit races than you are oval ones.

Fans enjoy the fact that Indycar betting creates so many strategies because of the three different types of races seen throughout the calendar. It’s an aspect that’s truly unique to this motorsport.

3. Pit Stops & Crashes Open Live Betting Possibilities

People love live betting. It presents amazing odds and so many opportunities come up to make a quick buck. As a consequence, Indycar is the perfect sport for live betting possibilities. The dynamic nature of these races means something can happen at any moment and a race can be turned on its head.

A recent race in Milwaukee proves this point perfectly. Championship leader Alex Palou was most people’s favourite to win the race, but he stalled early on and ended up multiple laps down. This opened up a huge hole in the live betting market as suddenly new odds were available for surprise winners. Similar things happen in other races when drivers crash and there are safety cars, which can bunch up the pack and suddenly mean someone running in 6th is 1st.

But here’s the cool thing; Indycar fans can watch the races and predict when stuff like this might happen. Perhaps they notice it’s starting to rain and see someone is in a better position to make a quick pit stop for wet tyres. Maybe they see a driver getting closer and closer to a barrier on an oval race and think they’ll hit the wall.

Being able to analyse Indycar races and use your knowledge to predict when things could happen means you have a huge chance to secure massive winnings through live betting. Fans are getting amazingly good at this, which is probably why Indycar betting is on the rise.

4. Oval Racing Opens New Betting Markets

We’ve mentioned oval racing already, but it throws up some unique betting markets you don’t get in many other motorsports. Indycar lets you bet on similar things to other motorsports, such as:

Race winner
Podium finishes
Pole position in qualifying

They’re all great things to put wagers on, but oval racing lets you bet on the top speed a car can reach. It’s all part of the qualifying format for these races and the new betting market is incredibly fun to play around with. Again, if you’re knowledgeable and have watched the cars throughout the season, you start to understand which engines are more powerful and tend to end up reaching the highest speeds.

Having a fairly predictable betting market means this is one of the rare cases where the bookies can provide tighter odds, but it also means your hit rate will be relatively high to make consistent wins.

5. Long Odds May Be Valuable (For Once)

Last but not least, Indycar betting is a fan favourite because it gives long odds a chance to finally be valuable. In any other sport, betting on long odds is never a good idea. This means you bet on something with a low chance of happening – the bookies don’t think it’ll come true, so the odds are long.

As we’ve already mentioned, the unpredictability and competitiveness of Indycar means long odds are pretty great! You can put reasonably low stakes on someone with good odds to finish first or on the podium and there’s a fair chance it’ll come through. It’s one of the few sports where putting smaller bets on long odds could be a successful strategy.

When compared with other sports, Indycar betting is in its infancy. We expect it to get even better over the coming years with more markets introduced to diversify the betting landscape. The fans are starting to love this so maybe you’ll enjoy adding a few bets to your race weekend. Make sure you gamble responsibly if you decide to do this and always set limits to cut your losses.