IndyCar: 5 longshot picks to win the 2024 Indy 500
By Asher Fair
Prior to a weather delay, Indy 500 practice officially got underway on Tuesday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (for a few minutes). Then after another weather delay, a longer (yet still shortened) session took place on Wednesday.
Another practice session is scheduled at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval on Thursday, and it has been extended due to the aforementioned delays.
Then on Friday, the "Fast Friday" session in which the engines are turned up to the maximum ahead of qualifying on Saturday and Sunday is scheduled to take place, though more bad weather is predicted.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou, last year's polesitter, is listed by DraftKings Sportsbook as the favorite to win this year's Indy 500 at +400.
But given the fact that a betting favorite hasn't won the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" in a decade and a half, who are some of the longshots worth a second look? Here are five.
Only drivers not listed inside the top 10 heading into practice week were considered.
1. Santino Ferrucci: +2000
Santino Ferrucci has made a total of five Indy 500 starts for four different teams, none of which would be considered a top-tier team. He has never finished lower than 10th place (and the year he finished 10th, he ran as high as second for an Indy 500-only team in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing), yet his odds have him listed at 11th.
Ahead of his first Indy 500 start with A.J. Foyt Enterprises last year, Ferrucci was listed by sportsbooks at +8000. While they haven't made that mistake again, he is still relatively underrated, considering the fact that he ran at the front all year last year after starting in fourth place and finished in third.
Let's not forget that A.J. Foyt's team now possess a technical alliance with Team Penske, the reigning race winners (and, despite their recent "struggles" at Indianapolis, winners of three of the last six Indy 500s).
Ferrucci knows how to get the job done at Indianapolis, driving from 23rd to seventh as a rookie in 2019, 19th to fourth in 2020, 23rd to sixth in 2021, and 15th to 10th in 2022 before his career-best effort last year.