Previewing and Betting the Indianapolis 500: Larson Looking for the Rare Double
The most prestigious event of the IndyCar season, the 108th edition of the Indianapolis 500 is loaded with speed at the front, an impressive list of past champions sprinkled throughout the 33-car field, and a driver looking to accomplish something for only the fifth time in the history of the event.
Team Penske owns the front row of this year’s 500 and the trio is led by the “Yellow Submarine” of Scott McLaughlin (+400) who grabbed the pole with a track record of just over 234.2 miles per hour. Will Power (+650) and Josef Newgarden (+550) will join McLaughlin on the front row.
Penske talked about his team’s success on NBC following qualifying.
“We're going to start with the cars in the right place. We haven't been this way since I guess 36 years ago. We dug deep and we delivered.”
As Penske noted, his team owned the front row back in 1988 when Rick Mears took the pole and started on Row #1 along with Al Unser, Sr. and Danny Sullivan. That day Penske drivers led 192 out of the 200 laps with Mears taking the checkered flag driving the Pennzoil-sponsored “Yellow Submarine”.
Read More: Penske has overseen a resurgence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing will be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock. A special prerace show on Peacock begins the broadcast day from Indy at 9A ET with NBC joining at 11A. The green flag flies at 12:45P ET.
Eight previous winners of the Indy 500 are among the 33-car field. They are: 4-time champion Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, and 2012), 2-time winner Takuma Sato (2017 and 2020), and Scott Dixon (2008), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016), Will Power (2018), Marcus Ericsson (2022), and Josef Newgarden (2023). Their success navigating the 500 miles is invaluable.
NASCAR champion but Indy rookie Kyle Larson (+700) will start from the No. 5 position as he looks to be the first driver in a decade and just the 5th driver in history to tackle both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. The previous four to pull off the double were Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, John Andretti, and Kurt Busch.
Larson will be battling a multitude of factors in addition to the other 32 drivers in the field at Indianapolis. The NASCAR champion will need the clock, weather, and air traffic controllers in Charlotte to all cooperate. If there are weather delays in Indy (forecast is sketchy) it will be difficult to finish Indy and reach Charlotte on time. If the weather holds but the 500 is marred by an overabundance of crashes and subsequent cautions the race again will simply take too long. If he finishes in Indy on time Larson must hope air traffic controllers assist getting him into Charlotte. Normally not an issue but if former President Trump attends the race as expected, it will be more difficult to get into Charlotte.
Oddsmakers believe Kyle Larson has a true shot to make history as he is the 4th favorite (+400) to kiss the bricks and is the 2nd favorite (+550) to win the 600.
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Here’s a snapshot of Larson and ten other interesting personalities and contenders for the 500. Included is their starting position, odds to win, career note, and the flavor of milk they will be drinking and doused with should they kiss the bricks at day's end.
Enjoy the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and a couple of sweats along the way.
Scott McLaughlin (+400)
Starting Position: Polesitter
Established new 4-lap qualifying record w/ an average of 234.220 mph
Has only been racing IndyCar since St. Petersburg in 2020
Milk Choice: Whole
Josef Newgarden (+550)
Starting Position: Middle of Row 1
Author of recently published children’s book entitled “Josef’s Big Dream: An INDY 500 story.”
Milk Choice: Whole
Will Power (+650)
Starting Position: Outside of Row 1
This will be his 290th IndyCar race
Milk Choice: Whole
Kyle Larson (+700)
5th Driver to race in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day
2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion
Milk Choice: Whole
Alexander Rossi (+1000)
Won the 100th Indy 500 as a rookie in 2016
Former F1 Driver
Milk Choice: Whole
Pato O’Ward (+1100)
Starting Position: Middle of Row 3
McLaren’s reserve driver for the 2024 F1 season
Milk Choice: 2%
Scott Dixon (+1800)
Starting Position: Outside of Row 7
6-time Champion of the IndyCar series
Has won at least one race in each of the last 18 IndyCar seasons
Milk Choice: Whole Milk
Takuma Sato (+3000)
Starting Position: Inside of Row 4
Known for his style of racing: “no attack, no chance”.
Milk Choice: 2%
Helio Castroneves (+4000)
Starting Position: Middle of Row 7
First and last Indycar wins were the Indy 500 (2001 & 2021)
Milk Choice: 2%
Pietro Fittipaldi (+25000)
Starting Position: Outside of Row 10
Grandson of 2-time F1 Champion Emerson Fittipaldi
Drives for a team co-owned by David Letterman
Katherine Legge (+50000)
Starting Position: Inside of Row 11
First woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America
Milk Choice: Whole
Prediction: Speed and Penske were two words resonating across the grounds in Indianapolis following qualifying. Expect the "Yellow Submarine" to prevail 36 years after its last appearance in Victory Lane. That said, we will pull for Kyle Larson to win, rush through the postrace celebration, and head to Charlotte to try and pull off the thus far impossible double.
