Indy 500 Favorites 2019
Let's start with the top ten single race performances of the last year:
Indy 500 odds: Current favorites are Josef Newgarden +800, Will Power +800, Alexander Rossi +800, Simon Pagenaud +800 at BookMaker.eu. Race time: The Indianapolis 500 will be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana at 12:19 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 26th, 2019 and nationally televised on NBC. Will Power is the defending champion of the Indianapolis 500, and the oddsmakers. 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. 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. 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.
Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power is joined by Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, and Simon Pagenaud as +800 co-favorites in this year’s event Power has failed to earn a win since claiming victory in last year’s Indy 500 but has reach the podium in this race twice in the past five years.
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.
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.