After a heartbreaking end to his Road America effort, Josef Newgarden is the PointsBet favorite to win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (11 a.m. ET, NBC).
Newgarden sat on the pole for the Rev Group Grand Prix and led 32 of 55 laps before something went amiss in his gear box on a restart with two-to-go, dropping him from the lead to 21st, the final driver on the lead lap. His odds this week are +425. Newgarden finished second in the first of two races at Mid-Ohio last year and was eighth in Race 2.
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 this week for Newgarden is $4.25. For bettors more comfortable with fractional odds, a bet of +300 is the same as 3/1.
Scott Dixon, who aims for his second win of the season and his first on a road course, is the next favorite with +525 odds. Dixon swept the top 10 in six road course races this season, but only three of these were top-fives and his best effort of third was earned in the season-opener at Barber Motorsports Park.
Ranked third, Will Power leads a sweep of veteran drivers among the top three. His odds are +700. Power has two podium finishes on road courses with a second at Barber and a third last week at Road America. Sitting in the media center after the race in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Power was encouraged by the run and believed the team is turning their season around.
Colton Herta, 21, leads a contingent of three young guns in the next three positions. So far in 2021 drivers in their 20s have posted impressive runs by scoring six of the nine victories. Herta’s win came in Round 2 at St. Petersburg. He is listed this week at +750.
Pato O’Ward rounds out the top five at +850. He has one win on an oval in 2021 and one win on a road course. His road course win came in the second race of the Belle Isle doubleheader on the heels of a third-place finish the day before.
Just outside the top five, Alex Palou is listed at +1000. Last week’s win at Road America gave him back the points’ lead as the series heads into the back half of the season.
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