NASCAR is an adrenaline-fueled motor marathon and betting o it only enhances toe action for racing fans. Drivers are literally putting their lives on the line for hours on end, lap after lap and they can’t afford to lose focus for a split second.
Now with sports betting becoming legal in more and more states, you can put your money on the line too and in this guide we’re going to teach you exactly how to do it.
From a gambling perspective, there’s way more to betting on racing than just picking a driver, car or team to win the race. In fact, the experienced NASCAR gambler’s work begins long before race day.
The week building up to each race has much to do with how you should bet as historical information that stretches further into the past. And since the season is basically year-round, there are tons of opportunities to hone your betting strategies.
How Does NASCAR Betting Work?
NASCAR betting is a little bit different than the traditional betting lines we see in the four major North American sports. It shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s different, considering we’re dealing with a race rather than a game with points, runs or goals.
That said, a lot of the basic betting concepts are exactly the same as you see when you’re betting on other sports. The most important wagering concepts to understand when it comes to NASCAR betting are the moneyline and over/under.
Moneyline Bets
If you’ve bet on other more popular sports before, chances are you’re familiar with moneyline odds. In other sports, the moneyline is a bet on which team will win the game. In NASCAR you’re betting o which driver will win the race.
The odds are also the same as in other sports and they’re usually shown in American odds, also called moneyline odds. It’s a way the casinos can control how much you win compared to how much you bet and once you learn the basics, they’re really easy to understand.
Moneyline odds are shown as a three-digit number with a plus or minus sign at the beginning. FOr exampl:
- Jeff Gordon to win (+900)
In this example, a $100 bet on Jeff Gordon will pay out $1,000 total ($900 in profit plus your original $100 bet). Skip down the page for a more detailed explanation of how moneyline odds work.
Over/Under Bets
This style of bet is also used in other sports and it’s really common in NASCAR betting. First, the sportsbook will set a line on how many times will occur in the race and your job is to choose if you think there will be more than the line (Over) or less (Under).
A common Over/Under line for a race will list a specific driver and his or her final position. For example:
Jimmie Johnson – Finishing Position:
- Over 6.5
- Under 6.5
In both cases, the amount you win is determined by the odds which are set by oddsmakers working for the sportsbooks.
Prop Bets
Prop bets, short for proposition bets are a special category of wager which includes all sorts of fun bets that aren’t about which driver’s going to win.
One of the most popular props in NASCAR is what’s called a futures bet. That’s a wager on an outcome that happens much later on in the season. With NASCAR the most popular futures bet is picking who will win the Monster Energy Cup championship at the end of the season. Odds will be listed in the same manner as the other wagers except you need to wait longer for the result.
Guidelines for NASCAR Betting
In racing, selecting a winner form a large group of entrants is a challenge so you will often see quite long odds on each driver. While your chances of winning are low, the potential payout is really big.
Since Over/Under lines are set by professionals who are trying to get equal action on both sides, the odds will be the same, or close to the same, on either side. The reason the house prefers even action on both sides of a wager is because they stand to make money from taking a commission (also commonly called juice or vig) on every bet no matter the outcome.