Nascar Predictions & Picks - How to bet on Nascar

All prominent US sportsbooks accept bets on NASCAR and in this article, you will find NASCAR betting tips, how to bet and what types of bets you can place on NASCAR, betting strategies and insights, what sportsbooks we recommend when betting on NASCAR, and an overview of the NASCAR series and races. Enjoy!

When betting on NASCAR, first, ensure that it is legal to bet on the sportsbook of your choice, as all the states have different rules regarding online sports betting; for the complete list of promos, read our NASCAR sportsbook promo guide. 

We understand that picking NASCAR betting strategy can sometimes be overwhelming. With tight fixtures and drivers' fluctuating statistics, taking your time to figure out who to pick for a successful outright bet is challenging. But we at Sqore are here to do the sorting and give you our best prediction for the week.

We focus on all three major racing series; ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Cup Series. Thus, you will always get the pick or picks of the week to bring excitement to your weekend. We will give the best betting plays in all the series and offer the breakdowns, stats, and analysis to see the reasoning behind our picks.

Interestingly, sports bettors can bet on NASCAR odds just like they'd do with any other popular sport. And there is more than just placing on one driver to win a race. So, you'll find other bets like head-to-head betting, the fastest qualifier, podium finish, and fastest lap bets, among others. And the bigger the race, the more betting options. Let's dive into each of the bets available to us when betting on NASCAR.

Outright Winner

Betting on a race winner is the most straightforward and popular bet in NASCAR betting. Here, the sportsbook lists the race drivers, and each of them is assigned odds depending on their likelihood of winning. The probability of a driver winning depends on some aspects, primarily their previous performances. Interestingly, the bet allows you to place on multiple drivers, which will enable you to have more hedges over the sportsbooks.

The Fastest Qualifier

For car races, a driver's starting position is important. These positions are determined through their lap times. Here, the driver with the fastest lap time wins the pole position. And with the fastest qualifier bet, you can predict the driver who will win this first position. 

You have to pick your driver before the warm-up race, and if they win the first position for the main race, your bet has been successful.

Futures Betting

For an exciting NASCAR season, you can place a futures bet that will run for the entire season. For this type, you choose and bet on a driver you think will win the NASCAR Cup at the end of the season. And because of the more volatility over the season, futures bet gives more value than weekly bets.

As the season progresses, there are just smaller fluctuations in future odds to win until the start of playoffs. Here, more significant swings occur as drivers get eliminated from the competition. So, you get another chance to hedge your bet to get a better chance of making a good bet.

Podium Finish

If you've never heard of the term before, podium means the three top performers at a sporting event. Some good sportsbooks offer bets on the podium in any sport having many contestants. For NASCAR betting strategy, the sportsbooks allow you to bet on the top-three placement of drivers.

If you can place on a podium finish bet, you think a driver is a performer and will have a place in the top three but aren't sure if they will win an outright bet. Although the bet has lesser odds than outright, it increases your bet's viability.

Head-to-Head Betting

This is a kind of bet whereby two drivers are matched up for you to choose who will finish better in a race. Unlike other bets, head-to-head bet odds are low. Also, it looks more like a team sport in which one team (driver) has a slight minus favorite while the other team (driver) has a slight plus underdog. Here, your bet is good when your driver of choice outshines the other.

The Fastest Lap

As another most specific bet type, the fastest lap betting is placing on a driver you think will have the fastest lap in a race. It's not a must that the driver wins or even finishes the race. They only have to have the fastest lap over the duration of the race

Prop Bets

Independent of a specific driver's finishing position, you can bet on other NASCAR race occurrences.

With new NASCAR season changes every year, more caution is needed for those betting on the sport. So, one should be very cautious at the start of the season because some teams hit improvements while others miss. 

Here are some common questions to develop NASCAR betting strategies:

• How many caution flags will be thrown?
• How many caution laps will be there?
• Number of crashes in a race
• Which manufacturer will win the race?
• Will anyone get flagged for speeding on pit road?
• How many laps will a certain driver lead?

Here are other tips to keep you going as you bet on NASCAR races every time.

Reduce your bet sizes

You don't have to make large bets at an instance when the outcome of the race is more uncertain. When a race's uncertainty increases, you get better odds to win, but the range of outcomes also increases. So, your chances dwindle. Choose the smallest bet sizes that you can be comfortable with.

Adjust quickly

It won't take many laps for you to develop the race's predictive data. So, take as few as seven laps to see how each driver or manufacturer is performing. You can achieve this by observing how specific teams perform relative to their previous races. For instance, are they having a higher average speed than in their previous rounds?

Such a quick analysis helps you to understand how the NASCAR championship is going to turn out and may even give insights for your next bet.

Think about multiple bets

Choosing one from a bunch of NASCAR drivers to win outright may be very exciting. But selecting a few more to increase your chances of success the bet is more exciting and safe as well. So, choose a few more bets on different drivers after placing on your favorite, just in case. As an option, always place a podium finish bet to broaden your range of bets.

Consider a driver's form

Even though a driver's form is a good indication of how the race might pan out, there will always be circumstances that will affect a race. Nothing in a NASCAR race is certain. However, a driver's form as they enter the field may provide you with some tips on their confidence levels. And if all goes well for them, they can at least make a podium finish in a race. In contrast, a driver with a worrying form is probably a poor choice.

The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) holds over 1,500 races every year, which take place in 48 U.S. states and at 100+ tracks. Therefore, almost every weekend, there is a big race across the country, and they lead up to the end of the season when the NASCAR Cup winner is announced.

Currently, NASCAR oversees multiple racing series with various vehicle styles and formats. The three major national racing series are as follows:

NASCAR Cup Series

• Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, February 5)
• Daytona 500 (Daytona International Speedway, February 19)
• Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (Auto Club Speedway, February 26)
• United Rentals Work United 500 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 12)
• Ambetter Health 400 (Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 19)
• EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Circuit of the Americas, March 26)
• Toyota Owners 400 (Richmond Raceway, April 2)
• Food City Dirt Race (Bristol Motor Speedway, April 9)
• NOCO 400 (Kansas Speedway, April 30)
• GEICO 500 (Talladega Superspeedway, May 7)
• Würth 400 (Dover Motor Speedway, May 14)
• AdventHealth 400 (Kansas Speedway, May 21)
• Goodyear 400 (Darlington Raceway, May 28)
• Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 30)
• Ally 400 (Nashville Superspeedway, June 25)
• Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, July 30)
• NASCAR All-Star Race (Texas Motor Speedway, July 22)
• Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Daytona International Speedway, August 26)
• Southern 500 (Darlington Raceway, September 3)
• NASCAR Playoffs
  • Round of 16 (Bristol Motor Speedway, September 16; Darlington Raceway, September 24; Kansas Speedway, October 1)
  • Round of 12 (Texas Motor Speedway, October 8; Talladega Superspeedway, October 15; Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, October 22)
  • Round of 8 (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 29; Phoenix Raceway, November 5)
  • NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix Raceway, November 12)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

• Daytona 250 (Daytona International Speedway, February 18)
• Auto Club Speedway (February 25)
• Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 11)
• Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 18)
• Circuit of the Americas (March 25)
• Richmond Raceway (April 1)
• Bristol Motor Speedway (April 8)
• Talladega Superspeedway (April 29)
• Dover Motor Speedway (May 13)
• Darlington Raceway (May 27)
• Texas Motor Speedway (June 10)
• Nashville Superspeedway (June 24)
• Road America (July 1)
• Pocono Raceway (July 23)
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 30)
• Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (August 12)
• Michigan International Speedway (August 19)
• Bristol Motor Speedway (August 25)
• Darlington Raceway (September 1)
• Texas Motor Speedway (September 23)
• Talladega Superspeedway (October 7)
• Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (October 14)
• Kansas Speedway (October 21)
• Martinsville Speedway (October 28)
• Phoenix Raceway (November 4)

ARCA Menards Series

• Lucas Oil 200 (Daytona International Speedway, February 16)
• General Tire 150 (Phoenix Raceway, March 11)
• Pensacola 200 (Five Flags Speedway, March 18)
• Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 150 presented by WiseWay (Salem Speedway, April 22)
• Biscuitville 125 presented by Food Lion (Richmond Raceway, April 29)
• Sioux Chief Showdown (Talladega Superspeedway, May 6)
• North Carolina Education Lottery 200 presented by Circle K (Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 28)
• Pocono ARCA 200 (Pocono Raceway, July 22)
• Illinois Lottery 150 presented by Casey's (Chicagoland Speedway, July 29)
• Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 150 presented by WiseWay (Kentucky Speedway, September 23)
• Bristol ARCA 150 (Bristol Motor Speedway, September 15)