Betting on NASCAR can prove a lucrative pursuit. Photo by Zach Catanzareti (CC by 2.0 licence).
The NASCAR season is into its playoff round, the chase for the NASCAR Cup. The No. 1 stock car racing circuit in the world is driving toward the ultimate finish line, the crowning of the season’s champion.
It’s a big deal, of course. There’s lots of money up for grabs – both for the drivers and for the savvy NASCAR bettor. Yes, you can bet on NASCAR and in some ways, it’s even better than wagering on say football or basketball. Yes, with those sports, a bettor is only being asked to choose between two teams when seeking to select the winner. There are 40 competitors who take the green flag each week at the start of a NASCAR race. On the surface, that means you’ve got a 1-in-40 chance of winning. But you need to scratch well below this surface and what you’ll discover is that there are myriad ways of winning a wager on a NASCAR race.
Fortunately, there are betting sites such as https://www.canadasportsbetting.ca/ that will break down all of the options for betting on NASCAR, as well as outlining the top online wagering sites that provide the best motor racing betting markets. And when we say there’s a multitude of opportunities to win, we’re not just blowing smoke out our tailpipe.
What are we waiting for? Like the drivers in their cars, we feel the need for speed – in order to quickly cash in some winning NASCAR wagers and fill our bank accounts. So let’s get going and look at all the ways in which you can wager yourself into victory lane.
Straight Bets
The most common and simplest method of betting on a NASCAR race is to select the winner of the race. The beauty of this play is that with 40 drivers in the hunt, even if a bettor opts to play the favorite, the payout will be worthwhile.
Kyle Larson is the top driver on the NASCAR circuit this year. In the upcoming South Point 400, he’s the +300 favorite to win the race. That’s the same as 3/1 odds. So if you were to bet $100 on Larson to win, you’d bank a $300 profit should he cross the finish line first.
It doesn’t take long for the odds to get up there. Perennial contender and past NASCAR champion Martin Truex is offered at +900. Alex Bowman, another of his season’s top contenders, can be had for +2000.
Head To Head Wagers
A way to narrow the focus of a NASCAR wager is to play a head to head bet. In this type of wager, an online sportsbook will take two drivers of equal caliber and pit them against each other in a fictional race within the actual race. Your task as a bettor is to pick which of two drivers will record the better finish.
Suppose Brad Keselowski at odds of +105 is pitted against Ryan Blaney at odds of +115. You bet on which driver will finish ahead of the other.
Top 3, Top 10 And Top 20 Finishers
Mid-race crashes can impact NASCAR wagering. Photo by Copefan (Public Domain).
Another wagering option is to place a bet on a driver finishing the race among the top three, top 10, or top 20 finishers. Depending on the wager, it gives the driver bet either three,10, or 20 chances to cash in for the bettor.
With this type of wager, a bettor can hedge their bets. For instance, in a top-10 finish wager, why not place bets on a couple of drivers? Go with one of the top contenders who’s more likely to end up in the top 10, and take a mid-range driver at longer odds to also be a top-10 finisher. If they both come in, the winnings will be quite lucrative.
Prop Betting
Prop wagers, short for proposition wagers, are fun ways to place bets. You really don’t even need to know all that much about NASCAR to play a NASCAR prop bet.
It could be a bet on which team will win the race, or which manufacturer will win (Ford, Chevrolet or Toyota?). Bettors can even wager whether the winning car number will be odd or even.
