Sports betting has existed since, well, sports. But, with the relatively recent explosion of online sportsbooks, betting sites and daily fantasy apps, the ability to place a bet has never been easier.
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While not raking in as much money as more popular leagues like the MLB, NBA or NFL, NASCAR has been steadily growing in popularity when it comes to in-person and online wagering. If you've been a Kyle Larson fan since day one, it's easy to cash in on that fandom. As easy as pressing a couple buttons on your phone the comfort of your couch while watching Kyle do victory burnouts on TV. If you're in a state where sports betting is legal, that is.
Getting started with NASCAR betting can seem overwhelming, but we're here to walk you through a few of the most popular types of bets to look at ahead of race day.
3 Types of NASCAR Bets
Futures
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When betting on NASCAR futures, the most common type of bet is the race winner. For example, if Kyle Busch was sitting at +600 odds to win a NASCAR race and you placed $50 on him to win, your payout would be $350. You can also place bets on drivers to finish in the top three or top five.
Another popular NASCAR futures bet is on who will win the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. These odds are updated throughout the season.
Driver Matchups
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For a driver matchup bet, oddsmakers will pit one driver against another, and you bet on which driver you think will finish ahead of the other. Pretty simple, right? Some driver matchups for the 2022 NASCAR All-Star race include Christopher Bell vs. Joey Logano, Ross Chastain vs. Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick vs. Denny Hamlin.
NASCAR has also recently been working with sportsbooks to popularize a special type of driver matchup wager known as a featured matchup. A featured matchup is usually based around a driver rivalry or seasonal storyline. For example, the feud between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick during last year's Cup Series playoffs was a major featured matchup for several races.
In an interview with Forbes, Joe Solosky, NASCAR's managing director of sports betting, discussed the ongoing success of featured matchups and how these types of could be more appealing to a bettor as opposed to a futures bet.
"The thought was that head-to-head driver matchups, which in most cases are even-money (-110) bets similar to point spreads in stick and ball sports, would be the most intuitive, familiar and accessible bet-type for someone new to betting on NASCAR," Solosky said.
"It's extremely simple — you're just rooting for one driver to finish ahead of another — and the short odds on matchups means you are far more likely to win a matchup bet versus a traditional 'outright' bet on one driver to win the race in a field of approximately 40 drivers."
Prop Bets
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With a NASCAR prop bet, you're looking to predict something that will happen during the race. A couple popular prop bets include how many drivers with finish the race and how many caution flags there will be.
For a prop bet that includes numbers, like the above examples, a sportsbook will either provide a specific choice with different odds for each choice or give an over/under to pick between.
Other popular prop bets include who will lead the most laps, which manufacturer will win the race and who will win the most laps.
2022 Odds
These odds are according to DraftKings and are current as of the article's publication.
Top 10
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Kyle Larson: +800
Chase Elliott: +900
Martin Truex Jr.: +900
Kyle Busch: +900
Denny Hamlin: +900
William Byron: +1000
Ross Chastain: +1000
Ryan Blaney: +1000
Christopher Bell: +1200
Tyler Reddick: +1200
The Rest of the Field
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Joey Logano: +1600
Kevin Harvick: +1600
Alex Bowman: +1800
Chase Briscoe: +2500
Kurt Busch: +3000
Aric Almirola: +3000
Daniel Suarez: +4000
Austin Cindric: +6000
Bubba Wallace: +6000
Brad Keselowski: +6000
Erik Jones: +6000
Austin Dillon: +6000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +8000
Cole Custer: +20000
A.J. Allmendinger: +20000
Zane Smith: +20000
Harrison Burton: +50000
Ty Dillon: +50000
Michael McDowell: +50000
Justin Haley: +50000
B.J. McLeod: +100000
Corey Lajoie: +100000
Cody Ware: +100000
Josh Bilicki: +100000
Todd Gilliland: +100000
J.J. Yeley: +100000
