The NASCAR Cup Series will compete at on the road course once again at the Brickyard. The race at Indy last year was crazy with Chase Briscoe being penalized for taking a short-cut and the numerous caution flags to end the race. The Gen-7 car is not going to slow down the chaos in the Cup Series but I still expect the drivers who have run well on the road courses this year to be up front this week. The Verizon 200 can be seen Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
The Best Bests won again… Well, sort of… It depends on where you placed your bet or on what website you used. Most sites paid out both sides of the bet (paid Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott as winners), so there were a lot of winners last week. The win by Elliott does keep the Best Bets hot streak going. The picks have now been paid off in five of the last seven races. They won with Chase Elliott (8-1) at Pocono, Christopher Bell (28-1) at New Hampshire, Tyler Reddick (25-1) Road America, Joey Logano (16-1) at WWT Raceway and Daniel Suarez (25-1) at Sonoma. I will do my best to keep the hot streak going at Indianapolis.
The race Sunday is going to be crazy just like every other race using the Gen-7 car, but I am sticking to the drivers who have had success on the road courses this year. I am not going to gamble on drivers like Kevin Harvick or Martin Truex Jr. winning their first race of the 2022 season at Indy because they haven’t even led a lap on a road course this year. I will stick to the drivers who have run up front in the Gen-7 car.
DRAFTKINGS ODDS FOR INDY
* The odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook. The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet.
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Chase Elliott, you will win $4.
Here are my best bets for the Verizon 200…
ROSS CHASTAIN (7-1): I just cannot stop betting on Chastain. If he would have just let Denny Hamlin take the lead and followed the No. 11 car to the checkered-flag at Pocono, Chastain would have another win. He has been fast at every track this year so there is no reason to believe Chastain won’t be fast Sunday. He won the race at COTA, finished 4th at Road America and 7th at Sonoma. No driver has a better average finishing position on the road course this year. I wish Chastain had longer odds, but I will still take him at 7-1 Sunday.
AUSTIN CINDRIC (12-1): Team Penske has three wins this year but it is tough to predict when they are going to show up with speed because they have been inconsistent this year. How cool would it be for Cindric to win at Daytona and Indianapolis in the same year? Cindric finished all of the road course races in the top-10 this year and he finished 9th at the Indy Road Course last year. He won the Xfinity Series race on this track last year and I will bet he will win again Sunday.
DANIEL SUAREZ (12-1): The popular bet this week will be Ross Chastain, but I will place some cash on his teammate to get to Victory Lane Sunday. Saurez is on a hot streak. Suarez has finished 3rd, 9th, 6th, 5th, 15th and 1st in his last six races. The only driver who has been hotter than Suarez in the Cup Series over the last two months is Chase Elliott, but you get a lot better odds with Suarez. My Amigo has been good on the road courses. He won the race at Sonoma and finished 5th at Road America. Suarez has led the most laps on the road courses this year and he should have a good chance to win Sunday.
RYAN BLANEY (16-1): The CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway is Roger Penske. Team Penske should have their cars ready to impress the bossman in what is a very important weekend for Mr. Penske. Betting on a driver who has not won a race this year may not be very smart, but this could be the race when the drought ends for Blaney. He finished 6th at COTA, 6th at Sonoma and 11th at Road America. He also finished 2nd in the Indy Road Course race last year. Blaney desperately needs a win. He won on a Roval at Charlotte. I will bet he can win at the Brickyard too.
AJ ALLMENDINGER (20-1): What!!!??? Allmendinger is 20-1 odds to win a race he won last year? I will take it. Allmendinger hasn’t had a lot of success this year on the road courses but Kaulig Racing made some improvements with Allmendinger’s top-10 finish at Road America. He will get some extra seat time this week since he will compete in the Xfinity Series race Saturday. Indianapolis is an important track for Allmendinger. Getting him at 20-1 odds is an absolute steal.
LONG SHOT SPECIAL: CHRIS BUESCHER (30-1): Buescher has been really good on the road courses this year. He probably had the best car at Sonoma when he finished 2nd. He also had a lot of speed when he finished 6th at Road America. Buescher needs a win to make the playoffs and I am sure the No. 17 team knows the race Sunday and the race at Daytona are their best chances to get the job done. The team will use pit strategy to give Buescher track position and he has the talent to get the car to Victory Lane.
Good luck this week!
Follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR