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IndyCar: There’s a new favorite to win the 107th Indy 500

By Asher Fair

Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou, Indy 500, IndyCar (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou, Indy 500, IndyCar (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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There is a new betting favorite to win the 107th running of the Indy 500 on Memorial Day Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who several months ago wasn’t even planning on driving the No. 10 Honda in the 2023 IndyCar season, shot to the top of the scoring pylon with a four-lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour in Sunday afternoon’s Firestone Fast Six qualifying session for the 107th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay nearly put up identical lap times on each of his four laps around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.

But he ended up falling just 0.006 miles per hour — 16 inches over a 10-mile run — shy of Palou’s mark, posting an average speed of 234.211 miles per hour behind the wheel of his No. 21 Chevrolet.

Palou, who started last year’s Indy 500 in second place, secured this year’s pole position with an all-time record Indy 500 pole speed.

It came just days after he said it was “pretty cool” to lose the pole position to a driver who needed to do an all-time record pole run to beat him last year.

“In order to take the pole from us, he had to do a record qualifying,” Palou told Beyond the Flag this past Tuesday, regarding teammate Scott Dixon’s pole run last year. “That’s pretty cool!”

This time around, nobody could usurp the 26-year-old Spaniard, and it was Palou who took the top spot with a record speed in PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying for this coming Sunday’s 200-lap race.

VeeKay is set to start on the front row for the third straight year in a career-high second place. In three previous starts, he has never started lower than fourth. Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist, the fastest driver in the first two rounds of qualifying, is set to start in a career-high third (234.114 miles per hour) on the outside of the front row behind the wheel of his No. 6 Chevrolet.

Dixon qualified in sixth place, while reigning race winner and teammate Marcus Ericsson qualified in 10th. A complete Indy 500 starting lineup is available here.

The trio make up the fastest front row in Indy 500 history (average speed 234.181 miles per hour). To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Palou is now the betting favorite to win his first Indy 500, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

  • Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing: +650
  • Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren: +750
  • Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing: +900
  • Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren: +1000
  • Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing: +1000
  • Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren: +1100
  • Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske: +1200
  • Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing: +1200
  • Takuma Sato, Chip Ganassi Racing: +1200
  • Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises: +1200
  • Josef Newgarden, Team Penske: +1400
  • Will Power, Team Penske: +1600
  • Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport: +1800
  • Tony Kanaan, Arrow McLaren: +1800
  • Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport: +2500
  • Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport: +3000
  • Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing: +3000
  • Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing: +4000
  • Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing: +4000
  • Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing: +4000
  • Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: +5000
  • David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports: +5000
  • Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport: +6000
  • Benjamin Pedersen (R), A.J. Foyt Enterprises: +6000
  • Stefan Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports: +10000
  • Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +10000
  • Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +15000
  • Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport: +15000
  • Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing: +15000
  • Sting Ray Robb (R), Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing: +20000
  • Agustin Canapino (R), Juncos Hollinger Racing: +20000
  • Katherine Legge, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: +30000
  • R.C. Enerson (R), Abel Motorsports, +30000

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

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NBC’s live broadcast of the 107th running of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 28, with pre-race coverage scheduled to begin two hours prior at 9:00 a.m. ET on Peacock. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss any of the action!