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Betting on the Indy 500 – Top Indianapolis 500 Sportsbooks

Last Updated June. 7. 2024 2:41 PM PDT

Betting on the Indy 500 has been a favorite pastime of motorsports fans for over a century. Held once a year – usually over Memorial Day weekend – the Indianapolis 500 race is one of the most iconic events on the racing calendar. If you’d like to experience the excitement of Indy 500 betting, this page is the place for you.

Our Indy 500 betting guide will teach you how to find the best online sportsbook for this event. We will also share some useful tips on how to get the most out of betting on the beloved automobile race.

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Best Indy 500 Betting Site

MyBookie Best Overall Indy 500 Betting Site

If betting on the Indy 500 is on your mind, go to MyBookie. This site releases the Indy 500 betting odds weeks before most other books.

Some other bookmakers also publish Indy 500 odds early, but their prices aren’t as attractive as those at MyBookie. For example, the second favorite to win the 2024 race, Josef Newgarden, is priced at +800 at MyBookie, while most other Indy 500 betting sites are giving +600 on the defending champion.

Another reason why we consider MyBookie an excellent choice for betting on Indy 500 is that all sports bonuses can be used for this event. That includes the 50% sports welcome bonus, 50% reload bonuses, and other deals.

MyBookie is also great because its website is a valuable source of information about the iconic race. The sportsbook publishes a yearly Indy 500 betting guide in its news section. That’s where you can learn about the drivers and their cars, as well as the history of the event.

Another reason why BetOnline is the best motorsports sportsbook is that it offers different types of bets, including things like head-to-head performance, constructor betting, and so on.

On top of that, BetOnline also has the Book My Bet option, which is available for all sports, including auto racing. How it works is that you can request odds for any prop bet that comes to your mind by sending your suggestion to bookmybet@betonline.eu.

How to Sign Up at an Indy 500 Betting Site

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1
Create Your Account

Go to MyBookie and hit the JOIN NOW button. Choose your username and password, and enter your personal details, such as your name, address, and date of birth. After completing the registration process, you need to verify your account via a link sent to your email.

2
Add Money to Your Account

If you want to bet on the Indy 500, you need to get some money in your sportsbook account. For that, you need to click DEPOSIT NOW and choose one of the available options – Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin, and others.

3
Choose Your Sign-Up Bonus

Pick one of the available bonus deals. Different sportsbooks have different deals on the table, but in most cases, it’s the welcome bonus you should look out for. This is usually a match-deposit bonus, meaning that you will have to make a payment to claim it. Enter the amount you wish to deposit and confirm your payment.

4
Start Placing Bets

With money in your sportsbook account, there’s nothing stopping you from betting on the Indy 500. If your sportsbook of choice is MyBookie, head over to the MOTOR SPORTS section, click INDYCAR, and choose Indianapolis 500 from the drop-down menu. The site will take you to the Indy 500 betting page, where you can see all the odds for the race-winner market. Choose a driver, enter the stake, and confirm your bet.

Top Indy 500 Betting Tips

Here are a couple of tips on how to best bet on the Indianapolis 500 to increase your chances of winning:

  • Bet on the Favorites – Oddsmakers tend to do their job well, with the driver they favor usually winning the race. Based on the odds for the Indy 500 for the past 10 years, a top 10 favorite has won eight times, from 2016 to 2023.
  • Consider a New Champion – Since the inaugural Indy 500 race in 1911, only 20 drivers have won the event on multiple occasions, and just six of them did it two times in a row. Knowing this, it doesn’t seem crazy to consider a new champ.
  • Pay Attention to Teams – Team Penske is the most dominant team in the history of the Indy 500, with 19 wins. In comparison, the second-best team, Andretti Autosport, has only six titles in their collection. That said, betting on a Team Penske driver does seem like a smart decision.
  • Analyze the Ongoing IndyCar Series Season – The Indy 500 is a part of the IndyCar Series, which consists of 18 races in total. The race in Indianapolis is usually the fifth or sixth event on the calendar, so you can use the data from previous races of the season to gauge what to expect over Memorial Day weekend.

Indy 500 Format

Have you ever wondered why the Indy 500 has such a special place in the hearts of motorsports fans? In addition to its rich history, this race is beloved for its format and special rules. Some of these include:

  • Qualification Format – There are two days of qualification, after which 33 racers will make it to the Indy 500 start list. The fastest nine of them will have an additional contest to decide the first nine positions on the grid.   
  • Double Points – The winner of a regular IndyCar Series event gets 50 ranking points. The driver who wins the Indy 500 gets 100 points. In fact, the 33 drivers to pass the finish line will get twice as many points as they would in one of the other 17 races.
  • Additional Points – There are 200 laps in the Indy 500, and whoever leads at least one lap will get an extra point. The driver with the most laps led will receive two ranking points. There are also points for doing well in the qualifying session, with each of the top nine drivers getting between 1 and 9 extra points based on their placement.

On top of everything, the Indy 500 is exciting because drivers will go above and beyond to try to win it. Adding their name to the list of winners is the main driving factor, but there’s also big money – the winner of the Indy 500 is rewarded with over $3 million.

Previous Indy 500 Winners

The Indianapolis 500 was first held in 1911, and since 1946, it’s been held every single year. Since 1996, the race has been a part of the IndyCar Series, which is the top-level competition of American open-wheel car racing.

Below is the list of the Indy 500 race winners since the inception of the IndyCar Series:

Indy 500 WinnerYear
Josef Newgarden2023
Marcus Ericsson2022
Helio Castroneves2021
Takuma Sato2020
Simon Pagenaud2019
Will Power2018
Takuma Sato2017
Alexander Rossi2016
Juan Pablo Montoya2015
Ryan Hunter-Reay2014
Tony Kanaan2013
Dario Franchitti2012
Dan Wheldon2011
Dario Franchitti2010
Helio Castroneves2009
Scott Dixon2008
Dario Franchitti2007
Sam Hornish Jr.2006
Dan Wheldon2005
Buddy Rice2004
Gil de Ferran2003
Helio Castroneves2002
Helio Castroneves2001
Juan Pable Montoya2000
Kenny Brack1999
Eddie Cheever1998
Arie Luyendyk1997
Buddy Lazier1996

What’s interesting is that only four Indy 500 winners ended up winning the IndyCar Series title the same season. Those are Dan Wheldon, Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Dixon, and Dario Franchitti — the only man to do it twice.

Betting on the Indy 500 Online

Watching the Indianapolis 500 can be very exciting due to its importance and impact on the IndyCar season. The race can be made even more exciting by wagering on who you think will lead the pack.

If you’d like to become a part of the Indy 500 betting adventure, our advice is to go to MyBookie. This is the best sportsbook for betting on Indy 500, due to their early odds, helpful information about the race, and the ability to use their bonuses on this event.

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Naric
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Zarko Naric – the World’s Greatest Sportswriter, according to his grandma.

Zarko started writing for GamblingSites.com in 2019, covering sports like soccer, tennis, and basketball, as well as some more niche sports like cycling.

In addition to writing news, picks, and blog pieces focused on sports, Zarko’s also been covering politics, TV/music contests, and more.