The popularity of NASCAR races has grown so much that it would be hard to find someone in the auto racing betting world who has not heard of Ricky Bobby. Seriously though, NASCAR has become a household name, and the associated wagering action has spiked at the same time. For those who still haven’t gotten in on that action, here is a brief explanation of the most frequent types of bets place on Nascar races; namely, betting on a driver winning the race, placing in the top three, or finishing ahead of another driver.
In the first type of bet, you can wager on your favorite driver to win a given race. The money you stand to win depends obviously on the amount you’re willing to risk as well as the odds of your chosen driver to actually win the race. A driver with odds of +200 will return $200 for every $100 you bet, while another driver with odds of +700 will return $700 for every $100 that you bet. The first driver is more likely to win the race, but the second would pay better if he does manage to finish the race in first place.
Betting on whether a driver finishes in the top three involves the same mechanics, with the exception that the odds are lower because the bookmaker pays off three different winning wagers instead of just one. Using the above example the first driver would be given odds of, say, -140, meaning that you would have to bet $140 to win $100 if he finishes the race in first, second, or third place. In the last type of bet, two drivers are singled out, and you bet on whether one will finish ahead of the other. The odds might go something along the lines of: Driver A -130/Driver B +110. In this auto racing betting format it doesn’t matter if neither driver wins the race or even if they finish last and next-to-last. It doesn’t count though if they exit their cars and sprint toward the finish line on foot.