Bodog has won the prestigious "Sportsbook of the Year" distinction and sports betting giants OffshoreInsiders.com. Today they preview the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, once known as the Charlotte 600.
Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte is the longest race on the NASCAR circuit and considered the halfway point of the season. And it's also the place where Jimmie Johnson seems primed to end his winless streak – JJ is the 7/2 favorite to win on Bodog's NASCAR odds.
It's really not fair to say it's a winless streak for Johnson, as he has only gone since the March 21 race at Bristol without winning. But that's how good he has been – drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards or Jeff Burton would love to only go a few months between wins as they all are winless for much longer.
But Johnson loves the Charlotte track, as he is the winningest active driver there with six victories, one more than Gordon. He has the best driver rating at Charlotte and won there last fall in the Chase. He has 13 top-10s – nine top-fives – in 17 starts. And although he crashed out of the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday, it appeared he had the best car, leading 56 of 100 laps.
If you aren't going to bet on Johnson, you might want to consider Burton at 12/1 on Bodog's NASCAR odds. He has three victories at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, including Coca-Cola 600 wins in 1999 and 2001. His last Cup victory was here in the fall race of 2008. In his past eight starts in Charlotte, Burton has finished sixth or better five times.
And Gordon (8/1) loves this track as well. Also winless this season, he has led the most laps in three races. He has five wins and 19 top-10s in 34 starts at Charlotte – three of those wins coming in this race.
Kyle Busch has been arguably the hottest driver on the circuit, his argument with teammate Denny Hamlin notwithstanding. Busch has won two of the past four points races and finished sixth here last year but led a race-high 173 of 227 laps. He also ran the fastest lap on 50 of the 227 laps. Busch is the second favorite on Bodog's NASCAR odds at 6/1.
Get all your NASCAR odds and props at Bodog
Let's face it, open-wheel racing really only matters once a year in the American sports landscape, and that time of year is this weekend with the Indianapolis 500 – bet on it at Bodog's motor sports odds.
Danica Patrick gets most of the publicity in the sport, but she's rather unlikely to win. Patrick made news of the bad kind when she was booed at Indy after qualifying 23rd last weekend and then basically blaming her car and her team for that. Patrick (30/1 to win this weekend) is largely a media creation as she has only one career win. However, she has done well at Indy, finishing third in last year's race and fourth in 2005.
Really if you bet on anyone other than Helio Castroneves, you probably aren't paying attention. He is on the pole for Sunday's race and is going for back-to-back wins like he accomplished in 2001 and '02 – no driver ever has gone back-to-back twice at Indy. He also is trying to become the fourth four-time winner, joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears. Castroneves is 3/1 on Bodog's motor sports odds to win – by far and away the favorite.
Don't let your patriotism get in the way of your wallet in this race if you are an American. There are just nine Americans in the starting lineup of 33 cars, an all-time low, and U.S. drivers have won only seven of the past 21 Indy 500s.
The second favorite at Bodog is Dario Franchitti (9/2) – i.e. Ashley Judd's husband. He would make history if he wins his second Indy 500 because that would mean team owner Chip Ganassi would become the first owner to win the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Daytona 500 in the same year. Jamie McMurray of Ganassi's NASCAR team won in Daytona in February. Franchitti has finished in the Top 10 in each of his past four Indy starts.
By the way, there is a decent chance of rain on Sunday in Indianapolis. The most recent of 14 rain delays or postponements of this race was in 2007, when it was halted after 415 miles (and won by Franchitti).
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