NASCAR has become one of the most popular sports to watch on TV or attend in person in the U.S. It has grown all over the country as new tracks are being built all the time. Nowadays NASCAR runs from February until November and the popularity of the sport has transcended into sports gambling, where the bets on NASCAR events increase every year. Betting on NASCAR is simple, here’s some advice on how to bet on these sporting events:
Successful NASCAR bets revolve around time and speeds; you need to study lots of numbers. Note that each track varies in size and configuration; therefore, always look at the success or lack thereof of a driver at specific tracks. There are drivers who succeed on certain tracks while others usually struggle, this kind of information is very helpful.
Every race sets the field according to qualifying results. These days, the popularity of NASCAR encourages many stations to televise the qualifying events, try to watch these events as often as possible because the commentators offer good insight and the interviews with the drivers reveal how they feel about their chances on race day.
You should also follow the practice sessions because they give you a better idea of a car’s strengths. The qualifying events only give you a general idea of a car’s strength because the drivers need to earn a fast lap and therefore the cars are set up for short runs. On a practice session the cars race better and give you a better indicator of their true strength. Take advantage of all our advice and learn about the NASCAR bet types available.
Driver to win a race
You can bet on the outright winner of a race. Let’s take a look at an example of the money line odds of a driver to win a race:
Mark Martin + 200
Jeff Gordon + 250
Juan Pablo Montoya + 300
Carl Edwards + 700
Jeff Burton + 700
Field + 500
With this money line, for every $100 you bet on Jeff Gordon you will win $250 if he wins the race. Those who wager on Carl Edwards to win the race will get $700 for every $100 bet.
Driver vs. driver
In the NASCAR driver vs. driver bets what matters is that the driver you bet on finishes higher than the other driver. You don’t have to worry about what place the driver finishes in. The money line for a driver vs. driver bet will look like this:
Mark Martin -130
Kurt Busch +110
In the example above, those who wager on Mark Martin to finish higher than Kurt Busch have to risk $130 to win $100, while those who bet that Kurt Busch will finish higher than Mark Martin have to bet $100 to win $110.
Group Matchup
In a Group matchup bet you can pick which driver will finish higher among a group of drivers. The number of drivers in the group is determined by the sportsbook, the groups are usually of 4 or 5 drivers. The group matchups require all racers to qualify in order to be eligible for action. You don’t have to worry about what place the driver finishes in as long as he finishes higher than the rest of the drivers in the group. Here’s an example of a group matchup bet:
Kurt Busch + 200
Mark Martin + 250
Jeff Gordon + 300
Carl Edwards + 700
Joey Logano + 700
In this case, if you bet on Jeff Gordon finishing higher than the other 4 racers on the group you could win $300 for every $100 you risk. It doesn’t matter if Jeff Gordon finishes in 10th or 3rd place in the race as long as he finishes higher than the four racers in the bet.
Future Bets
NASCAR future bets offer appealing odds because you will be betting far in advance of when an event takes place. For example, betting on the 2010 Daytona 500 now might get you better value on Kurt Busch, who may be 10 to 1 at the moment but could dip to 6 to 1 closer to the event if he’s racing well. Each NASCAR driver is awarded Nextel Cup points according to the place they finish in each race. Those points are accumulated over the course of the season and you can bet on who will finish atop the Nextel Cup Standings at the end of the season. For more information on how the NASCAR points system works go to: http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/features/02/18/enterprise.maumann.evolution.points.system/index.html
It’s up to you to decide which NASCAR bet type you want to choose and which driver you want to bet on.Keep learning about NASCAR, study all the information about the drivers, the cars and the tracks and trust your insights.
