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As soon as the GMS Grand Prix was in the books, Indianapolis Motor Speedway switched the attention to the oval and began preparations for the biggest spectacle in racing: The Indy 500.
Practice has been in session all week, with only one of six scheduled sessions canceled for weather. There have been some surprises along the way and with the big race still a week off, it’s likely there will be a few more, but the sportsbook traders have left you with a few great opportunities if you are inclined to make an early wager.
The driver with be lowest average practice ranking over five sessions will not catch anyone by surprise. Last year’s pole winner, Scott Dixon (+750) is currently favored by 50 points over Josef Newgarden and he showed why all week. As most of the drivers had some great results interspersed with moderate ones, Dixon posted a top-five time in every session. He was fast out of the gates with the fastest speed on Tuesday at 227.119 m.p.h.
Marcus Ericsson (+2200) was a different story altogether. He’s had some incredibly strong runs on road courses, but is still a bit of an unknown on ovals. The odds are good that he is not going to fly under the radar for long after posting the second-fastest lap in Practice 1 and sweeping the top 10 in all five sessions. His lowest ranking came the latest practice session, but his speed of 232.985 m.p.h. was impressive nonetheless.
Takuma Sato (+2500) struggled in Practice 1, but he more than made up for that in the next three sessions, posting the fastest lap each time. Sato has had an all-or-nothing relationship with this track for quite some time, winning the Indy 500 in 2017, finishing third in 2019, and scoring a second win in 2020, while his other two results in that timeframe landed outside the top 10.
Perhaps the biggest and maybe most pleasant surprise was Jimmie Johnson (+2500) posting up with an average ranking that lands fourth on this chart. He lacked some consistency with the 21st-fastest speed in Practice 1 and 17th-best time in Practice 5, but his other three sessions were among the top five. His only IndyCar top-10 came at Texas Motor Speedway on another oval and he could be the biggest sleeper of the weekend.
Alex Palou (+900) rounds out the top five, but like Johnson, his results have been erratic so far in practice. His best ranking this week was a fourth in the most recent session. His low odds are undoubtedly due to his second-place finish in last year’s 500, but it bears noting that he crashed and finished 28th in his inaugural attempt in 2020.
Patricio O’Ward‘s (+1000) average ranking is drug down by Practice 2, which was also held on Tuesday. His lap of 224.457 m.p.h. was almost eight-tenths of a second slower than Sato’s. O’Ward gradually found speed and ended the week with a speed of 231.798 m.p.h. on Friday. He did not participate in Saturday’s session.
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Felix Rosenqvist (+3000) is another moderate long shot ahead of qualification. With a best session at sixth-fastest, he lacks some of the flash seen with other drivers in the same range of betting lines. If you are going to risk an early bet on a driver in this ballpark, Sato and Johnson seem a little more attractive.
With a line of 50/1, Marco Andretti (+5000) deserves some attention. The 2022 edition of the Indy 500 marks his 17th start so he has much more experience than many of the favorites, but his recent luck in this track has not been good. Since finishing third in 2014, he has cracked the top 10 only twice more and the last of these was an eighth in 2017. He has shown speed, however, and won the pole in 2020.
David Malukas (+10000) was the top performing rookie on average with an overall ranking of 11.3 – which places him ninth on the chart below. Watch him during the week and if he posts another time like he did in Practice 4 that landed him third on that chart, he could be an interesting longshot. Since he is a rookie, it’s unlikely that he will get a huge drop in his betting line, so you have the luxury of time to make this decision.
Rinus VeeKay (+1400) rounds out the top 10, but as with O’Ward, he seems to lack the raw speed to make him a favorite for the outright win. VeeKay’s best session landed fifth on the charts Tuesday afternoon and since then he’s failed to crack the top five again.
Rank | Driver | Average | | | Current | Practice 6 | Practice 5 | Practice 4 | Practice 2 | Practice 1 |
1. | Scott Dixon | 2.4 | | | 750 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
2. | Marcus Ericsson | 5.2 | | | 2200 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
3. | Takuma Sato | 8.8 | | | 2500 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 32 |
4. | 9.8 | | | 2500 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 21 | |
5. | 10.0 | | | 900 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 6 | 8 | |
6. | 10.5 | | | 1000 | - | 3 | 6 | 24 | 9 | |
7. | Felix Rosenqvist | 10.8 | | | 3000 | - | 6 | 8 | 15 | 14 |
8. | Marco Andretti | 11.0 | | | 5000 | 7 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 5 |
9. | David Malukas | 11.3 | | | 10000 | - | 7 | 3 | 7 | 28 |
10. | 12.4 | | | 1400 | 8 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 17 | |
| |||||||||
11. | Scott McLaughlin | 13.8 | | | 1000 | - | 9 | 17 | 22 | 7 |
12. | JR Hildebrand | 13.8 | | | 25000 | 13 | 28 | 4 | 14 | 10 |
13. | 15.2 | | | 5000 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 28 | 4 | |
14. | Josef Newgarden | 15.3 | | | 800 | - | 10 | 31 | 8 | 12 |
15. | Tony Kanaan | 15.5 | | | 2000 | - | 8 | 29 | 9 | 16 |
16. | 15.8 | | | 1400 | - | 11 | 21 | 16 | 15 | |
17. | Dalton Kellett | 16.2 | | | 30000 | 21 | 23 | 11 | 13 | 13 |
18. | Callum Ilott | 16.6 | | | 15000 | 5 | 16 | 24 | 19 | 19 |
19. | 17.3 | | | 10000 | - | 13 | 30 | 23 | 3 | |
20. | Ed Carpenter | 17.4 | | | 4000 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 29 | 25 |
21. | Alexander Rossi | 17.4 | | | 2000 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 27 | 24 |
22. | 17.4 | | | 2500 | 16 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 29 | |
23. | Kyle Kirkwood | 20.2 | | | 10000 | 22 | 29 | 19 | 20 | 11 |
24. | 20.4 | | | 8000 | 11 | 26 | 26 | 33 | 6 | |
25. | Christian Lundgaard | 20.6 | | | 8000 | 15 | 30 | 13 | 25 | 20 |
26. | Jack Harvey | 21.0 | | | 6000 | 17 | 31 | 14 | 20 | 23 |
27. | Romain Grosjean | 21.2 | | | 3000 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 31 | 27 |
28. | Devlin DeFrancesco | 21.6 | | | 8000 | 18 | 25 | 32 | 11 | 22 |
29. | Helio Castroneves | 21.6 | | | 1800 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 18 | 30 |
30. | 23.0 | | | 850 | 14 | 33 | 16 | 26 | 26 | |
31. | 23.8 | | | 2000 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 17 | 31 | |
32. | 26.3 | | | 3000 | - | 32 | 25 | 30 | 18 | |
33. | Stefan Wilson | 28.8 | | | 20000 | 23 | 27 | 33 | 32 | - |
