The Ultimate Guide to Motor Racing: How to Bet on Car Racing?
Car racing betting has grown in popularity in recent years, with the sport constantly attracting new fans. Furthermore, the ease of betting on auto races through online gambling websites has contributed to the boom. To that end, we’ve put together this car racing betting guide to help you learn everything you need to know.
Few sports have as devoted a following as motor racing. Whether it’s the stock racing of NASCAR or the open-wheel action of Formula One, it provides incredible thrills and draws large crowds. You may not realize it, but if you know a little bit about the sport, you can turn that knowledge into profit by betting on motor racing online.
With this car racing betting guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the practice in the following article. We’ll look at the various types of racing as well as the various types of wagers you can place on the sport. Furthermore, we will discuss how to select gambling websites that will allow you to do real money racing betting with ease and peace of mind.
Sites to Bet on Car Racing
We like to start our betting guides by recommending the best online betting sites to our readers. We recommend using the sites listed below if you want to bet on car races. They have been thoroughly vetted and reviewed to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable time betting on car racing.
NASCAR Betting Picks and Blogs
These days, NASCAR is essentially a year-round sport. With races seemingly happening every week, you might need some assistance keeping track of everything. Our writers are always on top of things, and our NASCAR blogs are here to help you with your auto racing betting. The blog is constantly updated to reflect the most recent developments from the NASCAR world.
Auto Racing Betting Types
Each type of motor racing wager will present you with a unique set of risks and potential rewards. Continue reading to determine the type of wager that you believe will work best for you.
Winning Bets
When it comes to betting on motor racing, this is as straightforward and popular as it gets. You will bet on a driver to win a specific race. While that concept is simple, you may not understand what the odds displayed by a sportsbook or a top sports betting site mean.
You’re looking at a moneyline when you see car racing betting odds with a plus or minus sign after a driver’s name. The moneyline concept is used by most gambling sites to distinguish between favorites and long shots. It’s also a way for them to balance out the betting money going to different drivers, so they don’t take a big hit if a lot of money is placed on a driver who eventually wins.
Some fundamentals about moneylines in online auto racing betting:
All moneyline bets are made in increments of $100.
If there is a minus sign in front of the odds, it means you must wager that amount in order to win $100.
If there is a plus sign in front of the odds, it means you must bet $100 to win that amount.
Let’s look at how that could work. Assume you wanted to bet on Denny Hamlin to win a specific race, and his NASCAR betting odds were as follows:
- +500 Denny Hamlin
If you bet $100 on Hamlin to win the race and he wins, you will receive $500 back. That means you’re getting paid back at a 5 to 1 ratio.
Keep in mind that the $100 is a starting point, and you are not required to bet that amount on the race. To calculate all paybacks, simply use the moneyline’s set ratio. In this case, a 5 to 1 bet on Hamlin to win would result in the following win amounts for the amount bet:
- $125 payback on a $25 bet
- $50 bet equals $250 bet
- A $200 bet results in a $1,000 payback.
Another thing to keep in mind when betting on auto racing is that you will rarely see a driver listed with minus odds. A typical auto race has so many competitors that it is unlikely that odds favoring a single driver would be set so dramatically.
Win bets are ideal for those who want to win a large sum of money on a single wager in motor racing betting. However, because there are so many drivers involved, it can be a difficult wager to win. Fortunately, other types of auto racing bets can increase your chances of winning.
Matchup Betting
When it comes to how to bet on auto races online, matchup bets are popular because they are simple to understand and give the bettor a better chance of winning than a win bet. A matchup bet simply pits two drivers against each other in a race, and whoever finishes ahead of the other two wins the bet.
Assume you were betting on a race and saw the following Formula One betting odds:
- -150 Marco Andretti
- +175 Graham Rahal
Here’s an example of a moneyline with a minus because there are only two drives involved. In this case, Andretti is the favorite, and you must wager $150 to receive a $100 payout. Rahal is the underdog, and you must wager $100 to win $175.
Each popular Formula One and NASCAR event held each week usually has a large number of matchup plays available. When you consider all of the drivers involved in those races, there are numerous ways to pit them against each other until you find a matchup that appears to be profitable to exploit.
Group Betting
A group bet combines some of the characteristics of a matchup bet with some of the potential profit of a win bet. In a group bet, you will select one of several drivers to see who performs the best in a specific race.
As an example:
A sportsbook’s car racing betting site may include five different top drivers in a single group. You will select the one you believe will win. Your return will always be determined by the moneyline odds.
Whereas a matchup bet’s payback will never be much higher than even money (getting roughly the amount of your bet back), group bets will usually pay out slightly more. However, betting sites will try to make it close by grouping together a group of drivers who are evenly matched.
Top Picks
The podium in auto racing refers to the post-race celebration in which the top three finishers stand on a makeshift podium to be honored for their efforts. As a result, a podium bet requires your chosen driver to finish first, second, or third. Podium bets give you a little more leeway in terms of what you expect from your driver. They will, however, pay less than a straight win wager.
Futures Trading
Futures wagering is a popular concept in the sports betting world because it provides excellent payback in exchange for a higher degree of difficulty. You’ll be betting on an event that could happen months from now in the hopes of winning big. Futures bets are typically tied to major races in the sport, such as the NASCAR Daytona 500 or the Indianapolis 500 in IndyCar racing. Here are some sample odds to win the Indy 500:
- +400 Scott Dixon
- +750 Alexander Rossi
- +800 Ryan Hunter-Reay
- +850 Marco Andretti
- +1100 Josef Newgarden
- +1200 Will Power
- +1400 Simon Pagenaud
- +1400 Rinus VeeKay
- +1600 Takuma Sato
- +1800 James Hinchcliffe
For example, suppose you believe there is a driver in NASCAR who will get hot and be a serious contender for the Daytona 500, despite the fact that the race is still months away. With a futures bet, you can place a wager on that driver right then and there, often at very favorable odds.
If that driver gets hot in the lead-up to the race, his odds will likely fall as the race approaches. As a result, your early futures bet could be much more profitable than if you had waited until the week of the race to place a win bet.
Proposition Bets
Prop bets, also known as proposition bets, are popular in auto racing, particularly in major events. There are also prop bets that are not tied to how a driver will perform in a race.
Here are some examples of possible prop bets in the world of motor racing:
- Who will win a specific yearly championship?
- How many caution flags will there be in a given race?
- How long will the race last, taking into account cautions and weather delays?
Prop bets may differ from one website to the next depending on how inventive the oddsmakers are. Although prop bets may appear to be random, you can definitely benefit from your knowledge of the game to make good money on these wagers.
Types of Auto Racing on Which You Can Bet
As previously stated, there are numerous types of auto racing. Top athletes compete in dirt track racing, motocross, and many other smaller racing circuits. In some cases, you may be able to wager on races like this.
However, in terms of betting, motor racing wagering is divided into two major categories. The scene is dominated by NASCAR-style racing, also known as stock car racing, and Formula One racing.
NASCAR Gambling
NASCAR events draw large crowds all over America, with a new race almost every weekend. In these exciting events, the same top drivers usually face off against each other week after week. The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest race, with the most prestige for the winner and the most betting interest.
