2024 Road America GP Odds: Newgarden Leads IndyCar Favorites
A Chaotic Detroit Grand Prix Put Scott Dixon in Championship Lead, Can He be Beat?
The second year of the Detroit Grand Prix saw nearly half of the 100 laps driven under yellow flags. Scott Dixon’s masterclass in fuel saving during these periods kept in front and gave the six-time champion his second win of the year. This week, the grid swaps the streets of Detroit for the purpose-built Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. And there’s a different driver atop the 2024 Road America GP Odds.
2024 Road America GP Odds: Favorites
Josef Newgarden (+375)
After his second Indy 500 win in a row, Newgarden struggled to 26th in Detroit. A brutal day saw him make contact multiple times and suffer a half-spin early on.
Luckily, he comes to one of his better tracks on the IndyCar schedule this week. He won here in 2018 and 2022 and finished second from fourth on the grid last season.
His standout track record is good enough to put aside concerns over his results in Detroit.
Álex Palou (+400)
Palou’s metronomic consistency ended in Detroit with a 16th-place finish. That marked his first result outside of the top five all season. He’s second in the championship standings at 18 points behind Dixon.
Like Newgarden, he’s a two-time winner in Elkhart Lake and the defending race winner. He won from third on the grid last year and won from fifth in 2021.
He’s finished in the top 10 in four out of five career races at Road America. The lone exception was a crash that knocked him out early in 2022. His IndyCar odds reflect a strong challenge for victory this weekend.
Colton Herta (+550)
Herta took pole position around Detroit but got caught up in the race-long mayhem to ultimately finish 19th on the road. It’s now a stretch of two poor results in a row for Herta. This week could see a change in fortune, though.
His IndyCar results in Road America are the best among active drivers by average finish (fifth). He’s made the top 10 in every career IndyCar race there and qualified on pole twice (2019 and 2023). He could finally break his winless streak this weekend.
Pato O’Ward (+800)
O’Ward followed up the heartbreak in Indy with seventh in Detroit. That’s a strong result after a string of rough results from Long Beach through the Sonsio Grand Prix. His track record is good but not great in Road America.
He qualified on pole for the second race there in 2020 but only managed second in the race. Last year, he qualified second and finished third. He’s come close but he’s yet to break through.
Scott Dixon (+900)
Dixon is another favorite with two wins in Road America. He won this event in 2017 and the first race there in 2020. Last year he had an incredible charge from 23rd on the starting grid to fourth by the checkered flag.
That was his third consecutive top-10 finish. It’s a solid track record for a recent winner with plenty of momentum and the championship lead.
Sleepers
Scott McLaughlin (+1000)
McLaughlin had one of his worst results of the season in Detroit with 20th by the finish. He could be in for a bounce-back performance this weekend, though.
The last time he had a bad result at a street course (26th in Long Beach) he won the next race in Alabama, the most similar track to Road America on the schedule so far.
He’s made the top 10 in each of the last two IndyCar races there. He should be back at the front again.
Will Power (+1200)
Power remains a consistently good sleeper choice on a weekly basis. After his crash in the Indy 500, Power came back with sixth place in Detroit. That marks his fifth top-10 finish in six championship races this year.
The last time IndyCar raced at a road course (Alabama), Power took second behind McLaughlin. Power won here in 2016 but recent results haven’t been great with 19th in 2022 and 13th in 2023. His good form so far this year could buck that trend.
Marcus Ericsson (+2000)
Ericsson had his best result of the season with second place in Detroit. That snapped a streak of three consecutive finishes outside of the top 15.
He has five consecutive top-10 finishes in Road America ahead of this weekend. In all six career races there, he’s finished higher than where he started. With that result in Detroit, he could be in for a strong finish this weekend.
2024 Road America GP Odds: Predictions
Road America is the first of three road course events in a row. It’ll be a break from the streets and oval courses the drivers have dealt with for much of the opening half of the schedule.
Of the favorites, Palou (+400) looks like the best choice. His consistency (aside from Detroit) this season and his track record there are very promising. Of the sleepers, we like Ericsson (+1200). He’s been a quietly good driver at Road America and could surprise the field this weekend.
For IndyCar betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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