Jack | October 5, 2020 | Updated on: December 4th, 2023
Over the last few years, NASCAR has seen a steady decline in viewership, but somehow NASCAR odds are still extremely popular at online sports betting sites. Thousands of gamblers bet on events throughout the regular season, especially when the race occurs at a famous track like the Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, or Darlington Raceway.
Who could resist when you have stock car auto racing’s biggest names, including Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano, fighting it out to win one of the sport’s biggest prizes: the NASCAR Cup Series Drivers’ Championship?
With a nine-month-long season, opportunities to make money on NASCAR are seemingly endless. You don’t have to bet a lot to win a lot due to the sport’s overall unpredictability. Usually, even favored drivers have the odds stacked against them.
If you would like to find out more about how you can bet on NASCAR races, stick around. Below we look at how you can bet on this sport and tips to keep in mind while doing so. We also list many great online gambling sites with great NASCAR odds, so that you can get started with your first bet.
Bet on NASCAR Races Here
Latest NASCAR Betting Picks
NASCAR Betting Links
- Bet on NASCAR Races Here
- Latest NASCAR Betting Picks
- Popular NASCAR Betting Lines
- NASCAR Betting Tips
- NASCAR Odds – FAQs
Popular NASCAR Betting Lines
NASCAR has many of the same bets you can find on other auto racing events or motorsports. Here are some of the most popular betting lines on NASCAR:
Winner Bets
Winner bets are the most popular wagers in NASCAR because of how easy they are to understand. All you are doing is betting on who you think will win the race.
Usually, in sports betting, wagering on a favorite won’t pay you out well. However, in NASCAR, even the favorites have positive odds because of how unpredictable the sport is.
For example, Kyle Busch could start as a favorite to pass the checkered flag first but later lands up crashing halfway through the race or experience an engine failure, etc.
As such, winner bets still offer you some pretty good chances of a payout.
Podium Bet
A podium bet is a wager where you bet on a driver to finish in first, second, or third place. You are given more room for error as you are given three chances to win. However, the drawback of these bets is that NASCAR odds payout less because there are more opportunities to win.
Prop Bets
In NASCAR betting, there are many prop bets available. A prop bet is a wager on an event to take place in the race rather than its overall outcome.
Pole Position
A pole position bet is a wager on which driver will start the race at the front of the pack. Essentially, you are betting on which driver will perform best in their qualifying lap on a circuit.
Fastest Lap
A fastest lap bet is a wager on which driver will set the fastest lap of the race. This bet is completely separate from the final race result; all that matters is who sets the fastest single lap.
Driver Matchup
A driver matchup bet is a bet on a specific driver to perform better than another specific driver. It doesn’t matter where the drivers finish in the field. As long as the driver you bet on beats the driver he was set up against, you win.
Futures
Future bets are wagers on events that are due to take place in the future. There are many NASCAR futures, but the most popular is NASCAR Championship betting odds – i.e., the racer who will win the season. There are a few other options available on the sport, though.
As futures are usually long before an event’s outcome is decided, usually every betting option – even the favorite – has long odds of winning. This means better payouts if you win, but also that it is more difficult to win. Especially, if you start betting before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin.
We suggest remaining cautious with placing too many futures. These bets tie up your money for some time, and it is hard to get these predictions correct. Stick to perhaps one or two futures in a season.
NASCAR Betting Tips
Betting on NASCAR can be difficult, but we’ve got some tips to help you make better wagers. Read on below to see how to maximize your odds of winning:
Watch Qualifiers and Practice Runs
We highly recommend you follow all sessions leading up to the main race. These include practice sessions and qualifying. Qualifying determines the starting order of the grid, as well as pit box selection.
Where a driver starts can have a huge impact on the race. Some tracks only have one groove, such as Bristol Motor Speedway. The groove is defined as the racing line on the track. The cars need to stick to the groove to be fast.
When there is only one, passing is far more difficult. Larger tracks, like Talladega Superspeedway, make passing far easier, so a good starting position is less important. Understanding all this makes it easier to make better wagers.
Scope Out the Underdogs
Big names like Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson will always appear as favorites at sportsbooks. While bets on these drivers payout, they don’t pay as much as betting on an underdog whose odds to win a NASCAR race are relatively low.
Remember that NASCAR is also very unpredictable. So, the favorites aren’t always guaranteed a win. If you think a particular driver may have a good chance of winning a race, consider taking a chance on him.
Pay Mind to the Racetrack
Research a drivers’ historical performance on a particular racetrack before placing your wager. Not all drivers perform well on the same tracks. For example, betting on Kevin Harvick to win on a track he has never won is a bad idea.
Seeing how drivers and cars perform during the sessions leading up to the race can also give you vital information on how they’ll perform in different weather conditions.
Study a Driver’s Recent Form
Before randomly placing a bet on any driver, have a good look at their recent form. Even though somebody may be a big name in motor racing, they may be having a bad season. For example, Jimmie Johnson is a seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, but he hasn’t won since 2016, and he is still going at it. Denny Hamlin also looks like he could win it every year, but never does.
2021 NASCAR Odds – FAQs
The Daytona 500 is considered the biggest race in NASCAR. It carries the largest purse and is usually the most-watched race in the United States. (The Indy 500 is the most-watched race when international viewers are taken into account too.)
This is a tough question to answer. However, based on success alone, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson are considered the best as they are all tied for most NASCAR Cup wins at 7.
Jimmie Johnson is the highest-paid driver in NASCAR. It is estimated that he earns a base salary of $10 million per season.
This is a hard question to answer, but Jimmie Johnson, John Wes Townley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Danica Patrick are all drivers who have high crash numbers.
On average, there are about 220 crashes in the NASCAR season. Divide this by the 36 races in a season, and you get an average of six crashes per race.
The Dodge Charger was too effective in races, so drivers who used the car had an unfair advantage over other drivers, especially after Dodge released the Charger Daytona, which was named after the race track.
Check out our other motorsport betting guides: