Indianapolis 500: Pole Sitter Dixon The Favorite To Win

2021 Indianapolis 500 Betting Picks

• Pole sitter Scott Dixon is the +500 favorite to win the 2021 Indianapolis 500
• Dixon is among nine former winners in the field for the race
• Defending champion Takuma Sato is offered at a betting line of +1400

Being No. 1 at the start of the Indianapolis 500 doesn't often equate to being No. 1 at the finish line of the race. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon will start with pole position for the 2021 edition of the race on Sunday, May 30th. He also started first on the grid in 2008, the only time that the New Zealander has won the epic race. However, since Dixon's win, just two other pole sitters - Helio Castroneves (2009) and Simon Pagenaud (2019) - have won the Indianapolis 500 from the pole.

Driver
Scott Dixon	+500
Josef Newgarden	+700
Alexander Rossi	+900
Will Power	+900
Pato O'Ward	+900
Simon Pagenaud	+1000

Nonetheless, Dixon has been established as the +500 favorite to win the race in the Indianapolis 500 picks. Another factor to keep in mind - the last three winners of the Indy 500 all started the race on the front row of the grid. That being the case, bettors might also want to take a hard look at Colton Herta (No. 2, +1400) and Rinus VeeKay (No. 3, +2800).

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A Deep Field

There are nine former winners who are contenders in the Indianapolis 500 Vegas odds among the 33-car field, headed of course by Dixon.

Three-time winner Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009) will start ninth on the grid and make another run at joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as record four-time Indianapolis 500 champions. There are a pair of two-time winners in the race as well in defending champion Sato, who also won the Indy 500 in 2017, and Juan Pablo Montoya (2000, 2015). Montoya's 15-year wait is the longest gap between wins in race history. Montoya starts 24th on the grid.

Among other past winners, Tony Kanaan (2013) starts fifth, Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) is seventh and Alexander Rossi (2016) is 10th on the grid. Simon Pagenaud (2019) is 20th and Will Power (2018) is all the way back in the last row in 32nd.

Pagenaud and Power will have their work cut out for them. The last driver to defy the IndyCar odds and win from as far back as 20th starting position was Al Unser Sr. in 1987. Louis Meyer (1936) and Ray Harroun (1911) share the race record for the worst starting position by a winner. Each began their Indianapolis 500 win 28th on the grid.

Potential First-Time Winners

Team Penske's Josef Newgarden is a two-time IndyCar Series champion (2017, 2019). He's finished in the top 10 of the past three and five of the last six Indianapolis 500s.

Ed Carpenter is an open-wheel racing specialist who runs his own team, Ed Carpenter Racing. Nine driver-owners have won the race, most recently Foyt in 1977. Carpenter has qualified on the pole for three Indy 500s and finished second in the 2018 race.

Canadian James Hinchcliffe won the pole in 2016 and has finished in the top 10 on three occasions.

Ferrucci An Intriguing Longshot

Santino Ferrucci didn't qualify in a great position. He'll start from 24th on the outside of the eighth row. However, he does come into the race backed by stellar equipment. Ferrucci is racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the team that sent Sato to victory last year.

In two previous Indy 500 races, Ferrucci finished seventh in 2019 and fourth in 2020.

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