2023 Streets of St. Petersburg Betting Picks, IndyCar Odds

It’s the time of year where motor sports return to the forefront after taking some time off. IndyCar sees their 2023 season begin this coming weekend, with the Streets of St. Petersburg the first race of the new year. 2023 will see Will Power come in as the defending champion, but he is going to have some serious competition again this season. IndyCar always tends to be exciting in terms of the race to win the world championship, as we routinely see things go down to the final race of the season.

There is a long way to go before we get there, so let’s focus on the IndyCar betting lines for Sunday’s race in St. Petersburg and look at the drivers who should be in the mix to win.

IndyCar Betting Odds, Analysis and Prediction for the Streets of St. Petersburg

Josef Newgarden

Newgarden comes into this season having already won a couple of world championships, but he may just have a little chip on his shoulder. His last championship came in 2019, but he has been ridiculously close in the 3 seasons since, finishing 2nd overall in all 3. I think it’s more than fair to suggest that he is the favorite to win it all again this season, but what about this weekend? He had a poor showing in this race last season, but in the 3 years prior, he had 2 wins and a 2nd place finish in St. Petersburg.

Will Power

Like we said at the top of this piece, Power comes into the 2023 season as the defending world champion. While he has been consistently good in IndyCar for quite some time, you still have to say that his win last season was still a bit of a surprise, as it was 2014 when he last won it all. His 9th place overall finish in 2021 suggested he was heading in the wrong direction, but now he seems to be back to his best. He had a podium finish in St. Petersburg last season, so expect him to be among the leaders again on Sunday.

Pato O’Ward

This may be a season of redemption for O’Ward, who took a bit of a backward step last season with a 7th place overall finish in the driver standings. Prior to that, he finished 3rd and 4th, respectively in the prior two seasons, so he certainly does have the pedigree to be a serious challenger in 2023. He will be looking to get out to a faster start this season, but this might not be the best place for him to do that. He has had a 2nd place finish in St. Petersburg, but his last 2 runs there have not been great.

Colton Herta

Last season for Herta was very hit and miss. He only had 1 win and 1 other podium finish on the season, which was surprising when you consider that he finished the 2021 season with back-to-back wins. His 10th place overall finish last season is something that he will be quickly looking to put in the rearview mirror, so he will be looking to get out to a fast start. He won this race in 2021 and finished 4th here last year, so certainly a good chance for him to get a confidence building run in.