Josef Newgarden is the early line favorite in PointsBet odds for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama as the NTT IndyCar Series opens its 2021 season Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park (3 p.m. ET, NBC).
The two-time series champion from Team Penske is listed as +440 in the odds Powered by PointsBet SportsBook. Newgarden is a three-time winner at Barber in 2015 (his first career victory), ’17 and ’18.
Six-time and defending series champion Scott Dixon, who has six runner-up finishes at Barber but has yet to win at the road course, is ranked second at +520, followed by Will Power (+560), Colton Herta (+850) and Alexander Rossi (+900).
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who will be making his IndyCar debut, is ranked 20th among 24 drivers at +8000, putting him ahead of Conor Daly, Ed Jones, Max Chilton and Dalton Kellett.
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For Sunday’s Formula One race, Max Verstappen is the current favorite in PointsBet SportsBook odds to win the Romagna GP.
PointsBet lists Verstappen at +135 to win the race and he is the prohibitive favorite to earn the pole at -120.
One way to view American Odds is to move the decimal point two positions to the left. That will let a bettor know what they will make on a $1 bet, so the return on investment for Verstappen this week is $1.35. In order to make money on a driver with negative odds, a bettor must find someone to take the opposite wager in order to fade that pick.
For bettors more comfortable with fractional odds, a bet of +300 is the same as 3/1.
Last week’s winner of the Bahrain GP, Lewis Hamilton is ranked second in regard to outright win odds with a +145, which is the same as his odds to win this week’s pole position. Last year’s Romagna GP marked the first time Autodromo Ferrari in Imola, Italy has hosted a race since 2006. Hamilton won the race after starting second.
Verstappen retired from the 2020 race on Lap 50 with a flat tire.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas is ranked third for the outright win at +800. Last year Bottas finished second at Imola after winning the pole. Bottas’ odds to win the pole are listed at +850.
Tied with Bottas at +800 for outright win is Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, but he is ranked fourth in regard to his odds of winning the pole at +1000.
No other driver in the field is listed at better than +6000 odds for the outright win.
Those top four drivers currently show negative odds to finish on the podium, but there are several Prop Bets that should be regarded. One of these is the likelihood of a podium finish. Pierre Gasly is currently ranked fifth on that chart with odds of +375 to finish third or better. Charles Leclerc is next with odds of +480.
The odds of Nikita Mazepin being the first driver to retire from the Romagna Grand Prix are +500.
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