NASCAR racing is one of the most popular sports in the world, but unlike other mainstream sports like football, basketball and hockey, which use the same sportsbetting formula of point spreads and money lines, betting on NASCAR events is very different.
If you would like to bet on NASCAR, but have never done so before, don’t worry. Here’s a useful sportsbetting guide of the most popular ways people bet on NASCAR.
Bet on the Winner
This is when you pick the driver that you believe is going to win a race, which is similar to betting on the money line in other sports. The only problem with this type of bet is the fact that there are a lot of factors to consider in NASCAR racing, there are crashes, and sometimes teammates help each other out, which makes it harder to pick the winner that most other sporting events. Since there aren’t any overwhelming favorites like in sports like football or basketball, the odds given in this type of bets are actually very good, and a $100 bet should win you at least $500, even if you pick the driver with the best odds of winning. Here is an example of what an outright betting line for a NASCAR event looks like, and the potential payouts.
Jimmie Johnson +500
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +600
Jeff Gordon +4000
Tony Stewart +1500
Looking at these odds, if you place a $100 bet on Johnson, who has the best odds in this race, you will get a $500 payout. If you place a $100 bet on Jeff Gordon, who has the worst odds, you will get a $4,000 payout. Most people that bet on NASCAR tend to place numerous bets on races, on both the favorites and underdogs, to improve their chances of winning while increasing their chances of a big payout if a long shot wins the race.
Betting to Finish Top Three
An alternative to picking the outright winner of a race is picking a driver to finish in the top three, which is what this type of bet allows you to do. This bet lets you improve your chances of winning, which is why the payouts aren’t as big as if you had picked a driver to win the race outright. If you want to minimize your risk of losing, this is a great way to go.
Match-up Betting
This is a fun way to bet on NASCAR races, because it allows you to bet on a head to head match-up between two drivers. With this type of bet, you will be dealing with both positive and negative money lines, because a driver like Jimmie Johnson has a better chance of defeating a driver like Danica Patrick head to head, so the money line will reflect that by giving Johnson the negative money line and Patrick the positive money line. The outcome of this type of bet is decided at the end of the race, and you win if your driver finishes ahead of the other driver. The best part about the bet is that it doesn’t require your driver to win the race, it just requires your driver to be better than the other driver, and gives you a better chance of winning some money.
Future Bets
These are bets placed on events that have yet to happen, for example, you can place a bet on who will win the Sprint Cup next season, or who will win an event like the Daytona 500 next year. These types of bets require you to wait for a while until you get the results, because the event you are betting on is a few months away, so make sure you won’t need the funds before placing the bets. The positive thing about the events being so far away is that the odds are very good, and lead to big payouts if you are able to win.
Proposition Bets
Prop bets in NASCAR are quite interesting, because they allow you to bet on different things that have nothing to do with the winner of the race. Some of the things you can place a prop bet on is which manufacturer’s car will win the race, or if the race will end with a caution flag.
