The 2019 IndyCar Series officially ended on Sunday, Sep. 22. Colton Herta took the checkered flag at the Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Herta’s victory helped to propel Josef Newgarden to the IndyCar Series Championship. From a betting perspective, Newgarden was just an okay driver to back during the IndyCar Season. Check out a IndyCar betting recap of this year’s season!
2019 IndyCar Betting Season Recap
- When: March 10 – Sep 22
- Where: Multiple Venues
- Winner: Josef Newgarden
In 2019 IndyCar, Parity Reigned
Josef Newgarden may have won the championship, but from a betting perspective he in no way dominated. Newgarden took four checkered flags during the season: the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10, the Chevrolet Duel in Detroit – Race 1 on June 1, the Texas Grand Prix on June 8, and the Iowa 300 on July 20.
Every race this year, Newgarden went off as either the favorite, second choice, or a low-priced choice. Yet, he rewarded his backers only 4 times. That means that as opposed to other auto racing betting options, like MotoGP, IndyCar provided parity betting.
Newgarden Led in Wins But Other Drivers Had Great Seasons
Although Newgarden led the pack with 4 victories, other IndyCar drivers also had great seasons. Simon Pagenaud might have not won the IndyCar Series Championship, but he took the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar’s most prestigious race. He also won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and the Honda Indy Toronto.
5 other drivers won at least 2 races during the season. In addition to taking the year’s final race, the Grand Prix of Laguna Seca, Colton Herta also won the Circuit of Americas, the second race of the year.
Takuma Sato won the third race of the year, the Grand Prix of Alabama. Sato also won on August 24 when he took the checkered flag at the Gateway Grand Prix. Alexander Rossi’s two victories were in the fourth race of the season, the Grand Prix at Long Beach, and the Road America on June 23.
Two of the most popular drivers at IndyCar, Will Power and Scott Dixon, took home a couple of trophies each. Power won the Pocono Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Portland. Dixon took the checkered flag at the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit – Race 2 and the Honda Indy 200 AT Mid-Ohio.
Although Parity Reigned, the Chalk Came Out on Top
Even though 7 different drivers won the 17 races that made up the 2019 IndyCar Series, at the end, the chalk took the title. Josef Newgarden entered the season in March the favorite to take the championship. In July, both Newgarden and Rossi offered +160 odds. The third choice was Simon Pagenaud at +375.
Pagenaud would leapfrog Rossi in the standings to finish second. He failed to catch Newgarden for the title, though. Newgarden also won the title in 2017. Scott Dixon won it last year. So, even though the favorite ended up winning the championship, there doesn’t appear to be an overly strong trend.
Think about that heading into next year’s IndyCar Season. There isn’t a real trend when it comes to which driver wins which races while the favorite to win the championship, although it happened in 2019, won’t be a lock.
