If competition is the fuel that propels the wagering engine, then Indianapolis 500 betting fans should have no complaints when "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" returns to the Brickyard, Sunday, May 29. The race, like its four-legged counterpart of three weeks earlier, the Kentucky Derby, appears wide open.
Most sportsbooks already have future books posted for the event's 95th running although odds are certain to change after time trials are held and grid positions are established May 21-22.
Defending champion Dario Franchitti, who also won the Indianapolis 500 in 2007 and is the two-year (2009-10) reigning IndyCar Series champion, opened as a narrow 7/2 favorite to capture his third Indy 500. Franchitti, who drives for the powerful Chip Ganassi Racing team, won the 2011 IndyCar series season opener, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, March 27 and has been on the podium in two of the other three events staged thus far this year. As if things weren't going well enough for Franchitti, he's also married to the actress, Ashley Judd.
Scott Dixon, Franchitti's Ganassi teammate, is the 4/1 second choice in futures. Dixon won the Indy 500 in 2008 and has won more Indy Racing League (IRL) events (21) than any driver. Graham Rahal, 25/1, is another member of the Ganassi team. Rahal is just 22 years old.
Helio Castroneves, the third choice in futures at odds of 9/2, is always in the hunt for another Indianapolis 500 victory. Nicknamed "Spider Man" because of his victory celebration, in which he climbs the trackside debris fence, Castroneves is a three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (2001, 2002, 2009) and has 14 wins and 28 poles overall while never placing lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of IndyCar Racing. Castroneves is part Team Penske, a driving powerhouse that also features two other prominent wheelmen in Ryan Briscoe and Will Power.
At odds of 5/1, Briscoe is yet another driver with an outstanding chance to be drinking from the traditional bottle of milk on May 29. Briscoe hasn't finished higher than fifth in five previous Indianapolis 500 starts but is viewed as a prime contender after leading the most laps and finishing second in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 17.
With two victories, a second and a 10th place finish in four IndyCar Series starts this year, Power, a 7/1 shot, is off to a fantastic start in 2011. He's only raced three times in the Indianapolis 500, finishing 13th in his debut in 2008, fifth in 2009 and eighth last year.
Andretti Autosport, like Ganassi and Penske, will have multiple drivers in the Indy 500, including Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Mike Conway. Patrick, 14/1, who has been anything but shy about capitalizing on her good looks, has been no worse than eighth in five of the last six years at Indianapolis, including a career best third in 2009 and a sixth place finish last season.
Andretti, also 14/1, the son of 1991 IndyCar World Series champion Michael Andretti and the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti, finished second in the 2009 and was third in 2008 and 2010.
Conway, a ripe 80/1 longshot, had his breakthrough last month when he won the Grand Prix of Long Beach, following up that effort ith a sixth place finish in the Grand Prix of Sao Paulo, May 1, the last race before the Indy 500.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, 28/1, and John Andretti, 100/1, also are members of Andretti Autosport.
While the top three teams have numbers on their side, that's not to say that some other driver won't win the Indianapolis 500 this year. Tony Kanaan, Dan Weldon and Paul Tracy are among the leading cointenders in that category.
Kanaan, 20/1, the only driver to lead the Indy 500 in each of his first seven starts, was released by Andretti Autosport in October of last year and now drives for KV Racing Technology-Lotus. The Brazilian still is looking for his first Indy 500 victory.
Weldon, 20/1, won the Indy 500 in 2005, the same year he was IRL champion. He finished runner-up at the Speedway last year. Known as "Difficult Dan" for his short fuse, Weldon now races for Bryan Herta Autosport.
Tracy, 28/1, who finished second in the 2002 Indianapolis 500, will drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in this year's event.
Franchitti deserves the favorite's role but Indianapolis 500 betting fans have many other options for a race where accidents and mechanical failures have been known to produce prodigious upsets.
