It has been three years since the NTT IndyCar Series visited Exhibition Place in Toronto and the fourth-place finisher from 2019, Josef Newgarden is this week’s PointsBet Sportsbook favorite for Sunday’s race (3 p.m. ET on Peacock Premium).
Newgarden’s opening line of +420 narrowly placed him at the top of the list. He won on this track in 2015 and 2017, but has not stood on the podium since. Newgarden has three wins already this season, on the road courses of Long Beach and Elkhart Lake as well as the Texas Motor Speedway oval.
One way to view American Odds is to move the decimal point two positions to the left. That will let a bettor know what they will make on a $1 bet, so the return on investment this week for Newgarden is $4.20. For bettors more comfortable with fractional odds, a bet of +300 is the same as 3/1.
Newgarden opened with only a slight advantage over the field led by Patricio O’Ward, who came in at +450. Running only a part time schedule in 2018 and 2019, this is O’Ward’s first opportunity to race in the senior series in Toronto, but he does have laps around the track and a win in the Indy Lights division in 2018.
Alex Palou, who enters the race surrounded by questions of whether he will race for Chip Ganassi or McLaren in 2023, opened at +460. Last year’s champion is committed to putting those distractions behind him and insists he and the team can still contend for the championship.
While those three drivers held the advantage, Colton Herta also has a modest line of +650 this week. Herta finished seventh in his only previous Toronto try, but he overcame a starting position of 16th in route to that top-10.
Will Power rounds out the top five this week with a line of +750. Power has erratic results on this track with top-fives in his first two starts in 2009/2010, results of 15th or worse in his next four, a top-10 in 2014, followed by three consecutive top-fives and three results of 18th or worse in his last three attempts. Power won the 2016 edition of this race.
Last week’s winner at Mid-Ohio, Scott McLaughlin ranks sixth with a line of +900.
Previous Betting Lines
St Petersburg: Colton Herta tops the list
Texas: Scott Dixon favored
Long Beach: Herta favored for second street race
Barber: Herta still favored, but line gets longer
GMR Grand Prix: Herta continue to be road racing favorite
Indy 500: Scott Dixon favored; Jimmie Johnson solid dark horse
Road America: Alex Palou is slightly favored
Mid-Ohio: Josef Newgarden tops the list
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