A Beginner’s Guide to NASCAR Betting Online

Daytona Beach, Florida. Drivers at the ready, engines roaring, 100,000 people waiting in anticipation for the flag to drop……… let the Daytona 500 begin! 

Now's the time to enter the world of betting on NASCAR online!

The Sport of NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is one of the top motorsports around the world. There are multiple NASCAR championships throughout America (consisting of 100 tracks across 48 states), and drivers are tasked with navigating either an oval track or road course over many laps, to be crowned the champion. The three National NASCAR series are as follows:

1. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – this is the top racing series in NASCAR.
2. Xfinity Series - the minor league of NASCAR racing.
3. Gander Outdoors Track Series – a slight variation of the original, involving modified pickup trucks.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

As mentioned above, this is the top series of NASCAR racing. There is a total of 36 races, including the regular season (26 races) taking place from February to September, culminating in the playoffs (10 races) from September to November. There is a total of 38 drivers competing for the title across 24 designated tracks (some being raced on twice – in the spring and fall).

Due to the long season involving many races, there are numerous opportunities to bet on NASCAR throughout the year.

Types of NASCAR Bets

NASCAR betting is widely popular throughout America and the world. The most common types of bets that sportsbooks offer on NASCAR are detailed below:

1. To win outright – this difficult, although very lucrative betting type allows you to decide on who is going to come out on top and win the race. With the large number of drivers per race, it is recommended that you create a selection of potential winners, to give you a larger possibility of winning and beating the bookmaker.
2. Top 5 / Top 10 – this is where you choose which driver/s will finish in the top 5 or top 10. Although the odds (and potential winnings) will fall dramatically, it gives you a higher probability of winning.
3. Head to Head Props – NASCAR sportsbooks offers you the chance to bet whether one driver will finish higher than another driver on that particular race day. For example – will Kyle Busch finish above Denny Hamlin at Pocono. The bookmaker may offer Busch to finish higher than Hamlin at odds of -230 and Hamlin to finish higher than Busch at odds of +170. These odds show that Busch is heavily favoured to win this match up, and you would need to bet $230 to win $100.

NASCAR Betting Strategies

As detailed above, there are a number of markets that NASCAR sportbooks offer. Before you decide to place a bet, please carry out some in-depth research as you would if you were betting on Football, Baseball or Ice Hockey.

The first recommendation would be to research the current form of each driver. Look into how many top 5 / top 10 finishes they have had in the last 5 races, whether they have won any of them and how they performed during the qualifying stage. This should give you a better understanding of how the drivers are performing and whether they are going into this race with momentum or not.

Secondly, look at the drivers’ history at the particular track. A driver could be in excellent form during the current season, but over the past few years, they haven’t been able to finish well on this track. This would create a doubt in my mind and be a major cause for concern.

Lastly, look at the days track in question in much more detail. To gain a better understanding of how the race will play out will depend on the number of laps, the length of each lap and whether the race is at a speedway or road course. This research, coupled with the second point mentioned above, will make you feel a lot more comfortable on which bet you decide to choose.

Don’t Make This Mistake

It cannot be stressed how important research is when deciding to bet on NASCAR. Please do not blindly follow the crowd and bet on the driver who is favored by the bookmakers. If you want to have a chance of winning one over on your sportsbook, look down all possible avenues and arm yourself with all of the information you can.

Next Steps in NASCAR Betting Online

Once you have fully researched and looked into every aspect of this weekend’s NASCAR race, now is the time to jump online and place your bets.

There are numerous online sportsbooks that offer NASCAR markets, and please be aware that not all sportsbooks offer the same odds. Carry out a little further research and find the best odds for the bet you have chosen to place – it may be the difference of making an extra few bucks. 

Final Tips for NASCAR Betting

Remember,  take everything highlighted above into consideration when betting on NASCAR online.  Thankfully, NASCAR has a long season, so practice betting on a number of different markets and decide which one works best for you and your research. 

Start betting with low wagers, only until you have a better feeling of the sport and the relative markets.