Indy 500: New favorite emerges as IndyCar heads to Indianapolis

There is still one more IndyCar race before the Indy 500, but a new co-favorite has emerged for the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The NTT IndyCar Series is officially back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend after fans got a brief preview of what the Indy 500 might look like last month during testing at the track’s oval layout.

This Saturday afternoon’s race is the GMR Grand Prix at the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) road course layout at the Racing Capital of the World. After that, all focus turns to the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Since testing, a new favorite — or more specifically, a second co-favorite — has emerged for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon is now an Indy 500 co-favorite, along with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.

Dixon was the odds-on favorite to win the Indy 500 in 2020, 2021, and 2022. He started in second place and led the most laps in 2020 before finishing behind Takuma Sato, who may or may not have had enough fuel to make it to the end if not for a late caution.

Then Dixon started from the pole position in 2021 but was knocked out of contention when he ran out of fuel before his first pit stop, due to the pits being closed as a result of an early yellow.

He took his fifth career Indy 500 pole position — with an Indy 500 record pole speed, no less — in 2022 and led the most laps to become the race’s all-time laps led leader.

But a late pit road speeding penalty, which technically cost him a seventh IndyCar championship over the long run, left him continuing to search for his first Indy 500 win since 2008.

Here are the early Indy 500 odds, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

• Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren: +650
• Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing: +650
• Josef Newgarden, Team Penske: +750
• Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport: +900
• Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske: +1000
• Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing: +1100
• Will Power, Team Penske: +1200
• Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing: +1200
• Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren: +1500
• Takuma Sato, Chip Ganassi Racing: +1800
• Tony Kanaan, Arrow McLaren: +2000
• Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport: +2000
• Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +2500
• Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing: +2500
• Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport: +2500
• Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren: +2500
• Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing: +2500
• Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing: +3000
• Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing: +3000
• Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: +4000
• David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports: +4000
• Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing: +4000
• Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport: +5000
• Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +5000
• Stefan Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports: +6000
• Sting Ray Robb (R), Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing: +8000
• Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises: +8000
• Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +8000
• Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing: +10000
• Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport: +15000
• Benjamin Pedersen (R), A.J. Foyt Enterprises: +20000
• Agustin Canapino (R), Juncos Hollinger Racing: +20000
• Katherine Legge, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +20000
• R.C. Enerson (R), Abel Motorsports, +20000

Odds and availability subject to change. Sign up with DraftKings to bet now and take advantage of their current special promotion!

Interestingly, aside from Dixon, none of the drivers in the top six on this list are former Indy 500 winners, illustrating just how deep this year’s field is. The next five drivers on the list, however, have all won it before, all since 2013.

NBC’s live broadcast of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 28.