The IndyCar Series heads a bit further north for its next stop in the season, here are the best bets for Road America.
Sure Thing: Alex Palou, To Win: +550
In his five seasons in IndyCar, 2021 series champion Alex Palou has practically made Elkhart Lake home. With a win on a late restart over Colton Herta in 2021, an average starting position of 6th and an average finish of 9th, Road America is one of the Spaniard’s most successful tracks on the calendar.
Don’t let his DNF in last year’s race fool you into thinking Palou isn’t the right choice. As a matter of fact, there is no driver who has been on a better run as of late than the red-hot Ganassi driver. Along with a dominant win at the GMR Grand Prix last month, Palou captured a record-breaking pole at Indianapolis, going on to finish fourth through no fault of his own. A week later in Detroit? It was pole and the win. Dont forget this either: In the seven races so far this season, Palou has yet to qualify or finish higher than eighth. This might be the most solid of the best bets for Road America.
Sleeper: Colton Herta, To Win: +1100
Another perennial contender at Road America, Herta comes into the eighth race of 2023 lower in the champonship standings than he would like. Sitting in ninth between Will Power and Felix Rosenqvist, the Andretti Autosport driver is 124 points behind championship leader Alex Palou.
However, things can turn around on Sunday for Colton. In five starts at the track, he has captured pole once, along with four top five finishes. The win may have fallen out of reach for the 23-year-old in 2021, but he proved again in 2022 that he is force to be reckoned with on the 4.0 mile circuit, finishing fifth from a starting spot of 11th. At +1100, Herta might be a good pickup for a last-minute bet.
Long Shot: Devlin DeFrancesco, To Win: +35000
There’s a reason a long shot is called a long shot. Devlin DeFrancesco certainly hasn’t made the splash he wanted to since joining the IndyCar Series full time last year. Sitting at the bottom of the barrel at Andretti, the Canadian needs to turn his season around very soon in order to lock in a ride for 2023.
With no top 10 finish in 24 career races, it may be hard to put down a bet for the driver of the No. 29. However, with odds like the ones he has this weekend, anything is possible.
