Just like in other sports, moneyline bets in NASCAR are wagers on who will win, in this case which driver will win the race. This is by far the most common and popular bet you can make.
Sportsbooks post odds for all the top drivers. Not only do the odds tell you how much you can win, they also tell you how likely the sportsbook thinks it is for that driver to win. The closer the number is to +100, the more highly favored they are. Drivers who are more unlikely to win will have bigger numbers which mean longer odds and bigger payouts.
Another important thing to notice and remember is that even though a race can have 43 drivers, not all of them are listed with odds. Every racer without odds is part of what is referred to as the ‘field’. Moneyline wagers on the field will win if any driver which is part of the field wins the race.
A typical race will have a dozen or so drivers with posted moneyline odds. An example could look like this:
Daytona 500 Moneyline Odds
- Brad Keselowski +500
- Denny Hamlin +800
- Joey Logano +800
- Chas Elliott +800
- Kyle Busch +1000
- Ryan Blaney +1200
- Kevin Harvick +1200
- Kyle Larson +1500
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +1500
- Martin Truex Jr +1500
- Jimmie Johnson +1500
As you can see, each driver is technically an ‘underdog’ against everyone else combined. That basically means even though the best driver is a favorite against any other individual driver, he’s still a longshot to win outright. Even the most likely winner, Brad Keselowski is +500. This is because in such a large race there’s a ton of competition.
In the example above a $100 bet in Keselowski would pay $500 profit if he wins. As mention earlier, you do not need to bet $100. You can wager any amount you want.
A ticket purchased in person at a sportsbook will show you precisely how much the bet will pay if it wins. Betting online is great because if you enter the amount you want to bet you can see what it will pay out, before you have to place the actual wager.
You can adjust it and play around with the numbers. Or, if you prefer, you can input how much you hope to win and the site will automatically tell you how much you have to bet.
NASCAR Over/Under Betting
While these cars and drivers zip around the loop hundreds of times per race, there is way more to bet than just which driver will win. Lots of the more creative bets are presented in the popular over/under style you may be familiar with from other sports.
Like we mentioned before, over/under wagers are lines se by the sportsbook on a specific outcome. You get to bet on whether you think the final outcome will be more than the line (over) or less than the line (under).
In other sports you usually find this format of bet on the total number of points scored by both teams combined. Since there’s no traditional scoring in NASCAR, these bets work a little differently.
The most popular over/under NASCAR bets are on drivers’ finishing positions. Finishing position over/under bets start with the sportsbook setting a line on where they think a driver is most likely to finish. Then you bet on whether they’ll finish over or under that line.
Let’s look at an example:
Kyle Larson – Finishing Position – 8.5
- Over 8.5 (+105)
- Under 8.5 (-130)
If you think Larson will finish the race 8th or better, bet the under. In this example a wager of $130 would earn you a $100 profit.
If you think Larson will finish worse than 8th and he does, your $100 wager on over would win you $105 profit.
NASCAR Prop Betting
A large majority of NASCAR wagers come in the form of proposition bets or prop bets for short. The simplest explanation for this is that a long race with hundreds of laps needs to offer more action than simply betting on a winner at the end.
Prop bets pose specific questions about something happening in the race and they’re only limited by the sportsbook’s imagination.
There are lots of examples of NASCAR props including how one specific driver will fare against another or how a driver will do against the field. Other props will be posed about the race as a whole.
Here are some common examples:
“Better Than“ Bets
Typically these bets put two drivers against each other and you have to pick which will finish higher. It doesn’t matter where they finish overall, just how they do against each other. Both of the listed drivers can crash out or not finish for other reasons. So long as you correctly pick who finishes higher, you win.
How Many Drivers Remain at Finish?
This is a bet on how many drivers will make it all the way through to finish the race. If the line was set at 10.5, for example, you could take the under for 10 or less drivers to finish, or bet the over for 11 or more.
Most Laps Led by Any Driver?
This Over/Under bet will be about the total number of laps, at the end of the race, that any driver had the lead for a typical 400-mile race could have a line somewhere near ~190.5 laps
Total Number of Cautions
The sportsbook sets the line on the total number of caution flags during a race.
Betting on Pole Position
This is a hugely popular bet that actually doesn’t deal with the race at all. It focuses on the qualifying times of drivers in the days leading up to the main race. The fastest qualifiers will lead the pack on race day which is a big advantage for many reasons.
The driver who makes it through all of the qualifying rounds and has the fastest lap time will be rewarded with the advantageous lead spot which is called ‘pole position’.
Podium Finish
This is similar to betting on a straight-up winner except your driver only needs to finish in the top three (on the podium). This is similar to a Show bet in horse racing where you win if your pony finishes first, second or third. Payouts for this bet are smaller than you’d get for betting on an outright winner.
Podium finish bets are listed like the moneyline bets on which driver will win the race. Typical lines might look like:
- Denny Hamlin +245
- Tony Stewart +245
- Greg Biffle +270
Since it’s a lot easier to finish in the top three than win outright, the odds are always a lot shorter and the payouts are smaller compared to betting on the winner.
NASCAR Futures Betting
Futures bets in NASCAR tend to focus on the end of season championship. The earlier in the season that you place your wagers, the longer the odds tend to be. Sometimes end of seasons futures bets will be available mid-season but the odds will be adjusted according to how the season has been progressing.
Generally speaking, the lines available will be for the top tier drivers and posted as moneyline bets.
An example from mid-November 2018 in accordance with the standings:
- Kevin Harvick +200
- Kyle Busch +250
- Martin Truex Jr +300
- Joey Logano +400
- Chase Elliott +1500
- Clint Bowyer +3000
- Kurt Busch +4000