The NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Road America for the first time since 1956 with Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), while the Xfinity Series races the Henry 180 on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
But before all the action, we analyze all the twists and turns of the 14-turn, 4.048-mile Road America course to get you ready for a historic Fourth of July weekend. See the turn-by-turn breakdown below as we ride along with Justin Haley during Xfinity Series action in 2020.
TURN 1: Cars will rocket from the start-finish line downhill to the first turn of the road course, which is a flat right-hand corner. Drivers will be heavy on the brakes to make it through without going into the run-off area.
TURNS 2 & 3: The second turn is less of a corner and more of a little right-hand kink in the track before reaching Turn 3. Cars will gain a bit of speed before decelerating and downshifting for the right-hander.
TURN 4: Like Turn 2, the fourth turn is more of a right-hand kink in the longer straightaway as drivers approach Turn 5.
TURN 5: After gaining a decent amount of speed in Turn 4 through the Moraine Sweep, drivers will be on the brakes and likely downshifting to first gear entering the first left-hand turn on the road course.
TURN 6 & 7: The left-hand sixth turn will come quickly after a short chute up the hill, as drivers will move up to second gear, staying in the same gear through the right-hand Turn 7.
TURN 8: Drivers will hurry up through Hurry Downs to grab third gear out of Turn 7 before downshifting right back to second gear for the left-hand eighth turn, one of the sharpest turns on the course.
TURNS 9 & 10: This is what’s referred to as “The Carousel” portion of the course, which is a long, sweeping right-hand series of corners. Drivers will roll through the turn in second gear and feather the throttle in order to carry speed through it without going over the edge.
TURN 11: Drivers will grab third gear coming out of the Carousel and roll through this slight right-hander — the Kink. It’s not a heavy braking zone, but they will need to be careful when they get back on the throttle.
TURN 12: Drivers will be in fourth gear through Kettle Bottoms and downshift all the way down to second and heavy on the brakes for Canada Corner, the right-hand 12th turn.
TURN 13: Drivers will stay in second gear after Turn 12 and roll through this left-hand corner — the Bill Mitchell Bend — without upshifting going uphill.
TURN 14: The final corner is a right-hander as drivers will roll through it still in second gear before launching back out onto the frontstretch and upshifting up the hill to fourth gear back to the start-finish line.
In compiling a series-best four NASCAR Xfinity victories so far this season, Austin Cindric has won on four distinctly different tracks — the Daytona superspeedway; the flat, one-mile asphalt Phoenix; the high-banked, one-mile concrete at Dover; and the 2.5-mile triangular Pocono, with its three distinct corners.
A surprising absence from Cindric’s resume this year is a road course win — given that road course racing generally is acknowledged as his forte. But the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford hopes to correct that omission in Saturday’s Henry 180 at Road America (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The defending winner of last year’s Xfinity Series race at the 4.048-mile circuit, Cindric also will race in the Cup event there on Sunday.
“It’s just a classic race track,” Cindric says. “There’s no two ways about it. I’m excited for this weekend, mainly because Road America always pulls a great crowd. It’s a great atmosphere.
“It’s Fourth of July weekend, and I feel like there’s a really passionate short-track racing fan base in that part of the country, and that part of the country hasn’t had a Cup race in I don’t know how long. So I’m excited to see the turnout. It should be a really fun weekend.”
Cindric will face stiff competition if he hopes to go back-to-back at Road America. Road course ace AJ Allmendinger and JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier are Xfinity Series regulars who have won at the track.
In addition, NASCAR Cup Series stars Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are competing in the lower series to get additional track time. Busch won his 100th Xfinity Series race June 19 at Nashville Superspeedway, extending his own series record.
“Being able to come to a new track — when everything was announced that we were coming here — I wanted to run there as much as I could,” says Busch, who has never raced at Road America. “We were able to work it out so both myself and Ty (Gibbs) can run here, as well, so I think it’s beneficial for both of us.
“He loves road racing, too. It was kind of a perfect scenario — being able to get in the Xfinity Series and be able to practice in both of those races. I’m hoping it will be a really good weekend for us.”
Gibbs has posted seven top fives in eight starts in a part-time role this year. He won at the Daytona Road Course in his first start in the series and picked up a second victory on the Charlotte oval. Because both Gibbs and Busch are competing in the Xfinity race, Gibbs will drive the No. 81 Toyota instead of the No. 54, which Busch will drive.
Over 140 points sat between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson in the regular-season standings after the Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on May 9. Just 53 days and seven points-paying races later, his enormous lead has dwindled to a microscopic two-point margin over Larson, who may be the most dialed-in driver on the planet right now.
Since Darlington, Larson and the entire Hendrick Motorsports camp has been nearly unstoppable. Before Kyle Busch’s superior strategy paid off in race two at Pocono Raceway, Hendrick drivers had won six in a row.
If not for a blown tire on the final lap in the first ‘Tricky Triangle” race, Larson would have won his fourth consecutive outing — five, if you include the non-points event of the NASCAR All-Star Race — and would be leading the series standings. Nonetheless, the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet driver’s historic run has him hot on Hamlin’s heels with just seven races remaining in the regular season.
Kyle Larson closing the points gap to Denny Hamlin
Darlington Raceway
144
Dover International Speedway
142
Circuit of the Americas
110
Charlotte Motor Speedway
76
Sonoma Raceway
47
Nashville Superspeedway
10
Pocono Raceway 1
8
Pocono Raceway 2
2
Winning a handful of races puts you in a good position initially, but as you get deeper into the playoffs, the margin for error is much slimmer. Not only does the regular-season champion get to add another prestigious award to their trophy case, but they also carry an extra 15 playoff points into the postseason. The 15 playoff points you get for winning the regular-season title can be the difference between reaching the Championship 4 and potentially earning the right to hoist the Bill France Cup or watching another team celebrate a title in Victory Lane.
Last season, just eight points kept Kevin Harvick from advancing to the Championship 4 and proved that every single point matters.
Despite being winless so far, Hamlin’s incredible run of form early has afforded him a cushion. But wins are likely the only thing that will keep him out in front for much longer based on Larson and Hendrick’s current pace. The good news for Hamlin and the rest of the No. 11 crew is that he has at least one win at each of the remaining tracks on the schedule, excluding Road America — the lone premier series race was in 1956 — and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which is entirely new to the Cup Series.
As for Larson, if you discount the tire mishap in the first race a Pocono, he hasn’t finished a race outside of the top two since Kansas Speedway on May 2 (a race he led 132 laps in). In addition to the long string of excellent finishes, he has also crept closer to the hardware by scoring stage points in 28 of the 30 stages and collecting a series-high 12 stage wins — over twice as many as Hamlin sitting in second with five.
Looking ahead to this Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip at Road America (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM), Larson has the slight edge based on momentum and a seventh-place run in an Xfinity Series start at Road America in 2013. He is also one of the few Cup Series drivers to win at a road course during Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr.’s recent reign of dominance after his win at Sonoma back in June.
But don’t completely write off Hamlin. He has finished three of the last five road-course races in the top 10 and still holds the series’ best average running position at 6.708 and best average finish at 8.526. The No. 11 wheelman has only had one winless season in his entire 16-year full-time premier series career, so the odds are currently in his favor.
Neither driver can afford to make a big mistake at this point in the season. Both drivers and teams will need to be on their best each week with the regular-season trophy and additional points on the line.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Donny Schatz to the stage.
Schatz, a 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut when the series visits Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the first time on July 9.
The native of Minot, North Dakota, might be new to NASCAR, but he is far from a rookie at the historic half-mile oval, despite the yellow stripe that will be on the bumper of the No. 17 Ford F-150 fielded by David Gilliland Racing that Schatz will drive at Knoxville.
The 43-year-old Schatz has more experience at Knoxville Raceway than nearly all the other expected entries for the Corn Belt 150 put together. The lone exception is Brian Brown, a four-time Knoxville track champion, who will also make his Camping World Truck Series debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Knoxville.
Schatz, who drives for Tony Stewart Racing, is one of the most prolific winners in Knoxville Raceway history. Knoxville Raceway has hosted the Knoxville Nationals, considered the biggest and most prestigious race in all of sprint car racing, since 1961. In the last 15 years, Schatz has won that event an astounding 10 times.
Included in that stretch are streaks of four-straight wins from 2006 to ’09 and five-straight wins from 2011 to ’15. He earned his most recent Knoxville Nationals victory in 2017. In addition, Schatz has finished second in the Nationals seven times since 2000. He has 27 career victories at Knoxville, which ranks 10th all-time in the 410 sprint car division despite having never raced there on a weekly basis. Brown, meanwhile, has won 53 features at the Sprint Car Capital of the World.
Away from Knoxville, Schatz is just as good. He began racing full-time with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series in 1997, earning rookie-of-the-year honors. He earned his first victory with the series one year later, setting the stage for things to come. Schatz improved year by year and in 2006, he captured his first series championship. He won the World of Outlaws title four-straight seasons from 2006 to ’09 and added additional championships in 2012 and each season from 2014 through ’18.
His 10 World of Outlaws championships rank him second all-time behind 20-time series champion Steve Kinser.
In addition to his exceptional championship record, Schatz has racked up an astounding number of World of Outlaws victories. On June 18, Schatz won his 300th feature with the series at Iowa’s Dubuque Speedway. That ranks him third all-time behind Sammy Swindell (394 victories) and Kinser (690 victories).
Schatz can count some of the most prestigious sprint car races in the country among his triumphs, including the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Pennsylvania’s Lernerville Speedway, the Brad Doty Classic at Ohio’s Attica Raceway Park, the Kings Royal at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, the Williams Grove National Open and the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina.
While Schatz may be new to NASCAR, he’s far from a rookie. In fact, he’s likely one of the top contenders to win the Corn Belt 150 when the green flag waves on July 9 at Knoxville Raceway.
Meet the NASCAR Fan Council Member of the Month for July 2021!
Name: Matthew Current City: Richmond, Virginia Member Since: 2017
GETTING TO KNOW MATTHEW:
Q. How did you first become interested in NASCAR?
“I became interested in NASCAR immediately when I started watching it when I was a month old in April of 2001. I have autism, so the repeating sound of the cars was so mesmerizing to me. I officially became a fan in 2005 when I was 4 years old as a fan of Tony Stewart. I told my mom that she was to be a Dale Jr. fan, and my dad was to be a Jimmie Johnson fan.”
Q. What is your favorite part about NASCAR?
“Due to my autism and other special needs, I just like the mesmerizing and repeating sound of the cars going around in an oval shape. I also enjoy the intense amount of fan access to the drivers and crews.”
Q: What is your favorite NASCAR memory?
“My favorite NASCAR memory was meeting my idol Tony Stewart for the first time at a local Home Depot. I can remember that I just had surgery on my legs, and they gave me a chair to sit in to wait for Tony. Instead of going to the table to sign autographs, he came right to me first, kneeled down at eye-level with me, and talked with me for a bit. He signed two items when he was supposed to sign one. The best part was I had my little Tony Stewart fire suit Halloween costume on, my Tony Stewart Home Depot hat, and my sunglasses on to look like Tony! It was an awesome experience!’
Q: Do you have a favorite in any of the following categories?
Current Driver: “William Byron.”
Past Driver: “Tony Stewart.”
Up and Coming Driver: “Noah Gragson.”
Team: “Hendrick Motorsports.”
Track: “Richmond Raceway.”
Q. What do you like to do in your free time?
“Do my schoolwork with Liberty Online, participate in my Boy Scout Troop Committee (since I’m an Eagle Scout), and play sports with River City Buddy Ball, a sports league for people ages 5-30 with special needs like me.”
FROM ALL OF US AT NASCAR, WE THANK MATTHEW FOR HIS CONTINUED SUPPORT AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM HIM IN 2021!
Look for Matthew on the Official NASCAR Fan Council page on NASCAR.COM.
When Justin Marks announced the formation of the Trackhouse Racing Team in October of 2020, he promised to be a disruptive and courageous new force in NASCAR. That vision continued on Wednesday with the announcement that the Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing will expand its NASCAR Cup Series team by acquiring Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation.
Marks, along with Trackhouse team president Ty Norris and Chip Ganassi Racing CEO Chip Ganassi, revealed the move at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on a live stream on NASCAR.com. Trackhouse Racing will acquire all NASCAR equipment and the two charters from CGR, and the changes will go into effect after the 2021 Cup Series season.
“This process took several weeks and I want to thank Chip for being so open and candid with me every step of the journey,” Marks said. “Chip has built an iconic motorsports empire and the Ganassi brand is globally recognized as a winner in the auto racing industry.”
Trackhouse Racing currently has one Cup Series team with 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Suarez as the driver of the No. 99 Chevrolet. It was revealed Wednesday that Suarez will continue with Trackhouse in 2022 with a second driver to be named later. The Monterrey, Mexico, native has three top-10 finishes this season and is ranked 18th in the driver standings. His most recent top 10 was a seventh-place run in NASCAR’s return to Nashville Superspeedway.
“This is a huge deal,” Suarez said in an appearance on FS1’s NASCAR Race Hub, where he also revealed he did not know about Trackhouse’s deal with Ganassi until yesterday. “It’s crazy how fast Trackhouse Racing is growing.” He also indicated that he expects to play some part in helping the team select his future teammate.
Suarez gave Trackhouse its first top-five finish at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race as NASCAR utilized the surface at the famed short track. This came on the heels of Trackhouse’s debut in the Daytona 500 and after a busy offseason that included the naming of entertainment superstar Pitbull as a co-owner of the team.
Bringing on Pitbull (Armando Perez) was a sign that the team wanted to do things differently and that it wanted to appeal to a broader NASCAR audience. The organization stated that Marks and Pitbull intended to collaborate with Trackhouse’s philanthropic efforts, which include NASCAR-themed STEM education initiatives within inner-city charter schools.
Chip Ganassi Racing has two drivers in the Cup Series in 2021, 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch in the No. 1 Chevrolet and rookie Ross Chastain in the No. 42 Chevrolet. Busch ranks 14th in points and is three points to the good on the playoff cutline. Chastain ranks 22nd in points.
“My NASCAR team was not for sale,” Ganassi said. “Justin simply came to me with a great offer and an even better vision. As everyone knows, I care deeply for my employees so selling to someone like Justin, who is part of the CGR family, made the reality of selling much easier.”
CGR also has teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IndyCar and Extreme E, and those teams will continue to operate out of Ganassi’s Indianapolis location. The NASCAR operation was established in 1989 by Felix Sabates under the name SABCO Racing. In 2001, Ganassi purchased a majority stake in the team to form Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
In 2009, Ganassi partnered with Teresa Earnhardt to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, and that was the team name until 2014 when the Earnhardt name was dropped.
Marks said the new team will operate out of Ganassi’s current race shop in 2022.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and BettorView, a leading in-venue sports betting marketing and technology platform, are partnering to deliver NASCAR content at venues located within legal online betting sales across the nation. This partnership marks BettorView’s first with a professional sports league and is designed to help drive engagement and strengthen NASCAR’s foothold in the growing sports betting landscape.
“This collaboration will allow us to deliver NASCAR-specific content to a massive number of people actively engaged with sports betting,” said Joe Solosky, Managing Director, Sports Betting. “NASCAR’s handle is increasing at a healthy rate and this partnership will deepen our connection with this growing audience on a national scale.”
BettorView is the only multichannel solution of its kind in the gaming space, providing on-screen touch technology, brand ambassador activations and digital content marketing to more than 1,000 in-venue screens nationwide. With the start of the NASCAR Playoffs on the horizon, BettorView will showcase customized NASCAR stats, analytics and odds alongside special sports betting promotions in restaurants, bars, stadiums, and NASCAR tracks located in states where betting is legal, reaching millions of highly engaged sports fans.
“Since its inception, the vision for BettorView has been to enhance and reimagine sports fans’ in-venue experiences with our technology and industry expertise. As a gaming and venue operator, it’s exciting to partner with NASCAR, whose long-term strategy in the gaming space is as innovative, as it is focused on serving its fans and sportsbook partners alike,” said Seth Schorr, CEO of BettorView.
BettorView created the first plug-and-play solution that brings sports betting content to hundreds of venues via its patented technology. The BettorView platform launched nation-wide in 2019, securing partnerships with top hospitality chains, independent bars, and professional sports teams. BettorView is optimized to make sure guests are engaged with the best sports and sports betting information, which increase dwell time and revenue.
“We’re excited to bring our marketing and technology solutions to NASCAR and its partners, as the only multichannel solution of its kind in iGaming,” said Javier Vargas, COO of BettorView. “BettorView is proud to assist NASCAR in its ability deliver measurable ROI to sportsbooks, with an emphasis on new user acquisition and increased betting activity.”
In the past two years, NASCAR entered into a series of partnerships with world-class brands to better position the sport in the sports betting space. Sportradar signed on as NASCAR’s integrity partner, BetGenius as its data provider, Penn National Gaming, BetMGM, and WynnBET as Authorized Gaming Operators, IMG Arena as its international streaming partner, and EquiLottery and LEAP in the lottery and virtual gaming spaces, respectively. To help fans become educated on sports betting, NASCAR recently launched NASCAR.com/betcenter and also works closely with The Action Network and VSiN.
This year’s Daytona 500 victory wasn’t the first long-awaited triumph in Michael McDowell’s career. Five years ago, the 36-year-old veteran landed another eagerly anticipated win at the site of this weekend’s Cup Series event — Road America.
That 2016 Xfinity Series breakthrough ended a drought of nearly 300 NASCAR national-series races for McDowell, who cashed in on a spot start with Richard Childress Racing. He’d come close before at the 4.048-mile road course, qualifying in the top five for each of his Xfinity starts there, but misfortune seemed to follow him. Nearly five years ago, all the pieces aligned.
“My fondest memory was just coming off the final corner there and knowing that I had it, just a relief,” McDowell says, noting strong performances in his previous efforts there with Joe Gibbs Racing. “Just so many things had gone wrong there where I’d led a lot of laps there, had some opportunities to close the deal there and just wasn’t able to do it. So to finally do it, it was just a big sense of relief and accomplishment.”
Wisconsin is a heck of a place for an Arizona native to have a homecoming, but no matter the geographical contrast, McDowell is ready for a reunion on friendly turf in America’s Dairyland. He’ll bring a heaping helping of experience into Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first Cup Series event at the Elkhart Lake facility since 1956.
Jonathan Ferrey | Getty Images
McDowell’s winning ways at Road America extend beyond his handful of Xfinity Series starts. He also won there twice as he established his road-racing chops in the open-wheel Pro Mazda Series, prevailing for the first time in 2003 and again the following year on the way to the series championship in the Road to Indy program.
Advantage, McDowell? That might be the case in terms of experience at the long, high-speed circuit, but the Front Row Motorsports driver acknowledged that the rest of the Cup Series field is a quick study.
“I think it’s always an advantage to have experience, especially good experience where I’ve been in quality cars and had great runs,” McDowell says, “so I think that kind of experience is helpful, but … the drivers are so talented and the tools that we all have with simulation and videos and data, you have a fairly good idea of what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it before you ever get to the race track. The great guys are going to figure it out fast. I’d actually prefer it if there was no practice because I think when you give talented people that 50 minutes, they’re going to figure it out and you might lose some of that advantage you might have.
“At the same time, I wouldn’t give up the experience. I think it always helps.”
Another helpful asset: McDowell’s already banked season-opening win, which has virtually assured him a playoff berth and the highest finish in the Cup Series standings for his career. It’s been a handy insurance policy for the postseason, but winning the “Great American Race” has also magnified McDowell’s stature.
Since the start of the season, McDowell has appeared in national ad campaigns for CarParts.com, and just last weekend at Pocono, the team added sponsorship from new backer Horizon Hobby and its ARRMA RC brand for his No. 34 Ford. “I think that winning the 500 and just having a solid year in general has been so helpful with our relationships here at Front Row,” he said. “Anytime you run good and your partners are happy, it creates opportunity.”
It hasn’t hurt McDowell being introduced with “Daytona 500 winner” as a prefix to his name.
“I don’t know if you ever get used to it, but it’s nice,” McDowell said. “This sport is so challenging and it’s week to week, and you’re only as good as your last race. So when you have a struggle and a difficult weekend, and you come to the office to do autograph requests or sign pictures, when you keep signing that same picture of you in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500, it’s a good reminder that when you’re struggling, it’s worth it.”
The struggles have been less frequent this year, with McDowell already posting career-best numbers with five top-10 results and a 16.8 average finish. For McDowell, those stats and the win-column check mark haven’t spurred any thoughts about testing the free-agency market. While he says those positives haven’t necessarily accelerated any negotiations with Front Row in an already busy Silly Season, McDowell has indicated that he expects to stay put.
“It’s pretty early for us, but I’ve kind of said this before: I plan on being here. I enjoy the growth that we’ve had at Front Row and what we’ve been able to build,” McDowell says. “To go from when I got here, running high 20s to 30s every week to running low 20s to running in the teens, then winning a race and being in the playoffs and having more top 10s and top fives than we’ve ever had, it’s a fun time to be a part of Front Row. I’m enjoying being here and hopefully that’ll be an opportunity for years to come, but we haven’t really gotten to that point yet.”
Firming up plans for 2022 can become a priority later, but McDowell & Co. have work remaining for this season. Seven events remain before the 10-race playoffs begin, and McDowell says that FRM is striving to make gains on the more well-heeled teams in the Cup Series garage.
“We’re still a small team and we still have a budget, but we are able to build a few new cars and have some time to work on those cars and make them the best that we can before the playoffs start,” McDowell says, “but we also look at these next three or four weeks as big weeks for us, having three road courses coming up and knowing that those are races that we can contend in.
“You’ve got to balance your focus. Obviously, you don’t want to get too far ahead, but you also want to make sure you’re prepared for the playoffs. We’re doing everything that we can.”
See where your favorite driver will pit for Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
There are different schools of thought among sports bettors when it comes to futures wagering. Some avoid making futures bets, theorizing the opportunity cost of keeping their money tied up for months is too great. Others find value in futures and say that investing in these long-term markets allows them to get out of the day-to-day grind many gamblers endure.
To exemplify these philosophies in NASCAR, if a bettor with a $2,000 bankroll placed a $100 wager today on Chase Elliott to win the 2021 Cup Series Championship (7/1 odds at BetMGM), the upside is a nice $700 payday in November. The opportunity cost is that the $100 will be held by the sportsbook for the next five months, depriving the bettor of the chance to invest that 5% of his bankroll.
For many professional bettors, the money required for a meaningful futures bet could instead be turned over many times during the season, creating more opportunity for profit. If baseball or basketball are among the sports they bet, for example, they could wager the amount of their forgone futures bet on a daily basis. Even the sharpest bettors have very small edges against the market, so betting at a high volume is necessary for these pros to make a living.
“I generally stay away from futures markets, just for the opportunity costs, locking up money for a long period of time,” sharp bettor Blake Phillips told NASCAR.com.
Zack White, though, is one pro gambler who has had plenty of success playing futures. White and his partner Mark DeRosa famously made a big score on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win Super Bowl LV, and he stands to cash in again should Alex Bowman win this year’s Cup title at long odds (an outcome NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola gives a realistic chance). White, in fact, is currently cheering on his futures position on the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup.
Not only has futures betting been profitable for White, but it also allows him a more enjoyable lifestyle.
“I’ve done really, really well with futures over the past several years,” White said. “There was a time when I worked every single day of the week, betting all sorts of sports. Now, I’ve got (a family), and I’m not living in Vegas full time anymore. Honestly, futures are a way for me to get down a substantial amount of money at a big edge and only work a few days (laughs) and just wait until (the bets are) graded. So if I’m betting hockey futures and football futures and basketball futures, then I have stuff grading pretty regularly throughout the year, but I only spend a few days actually executing the bets instead of a whole season.
“I’d rather have a 30% edge on a futures bet that I don’t have to think about for a few months until they’re graded, because in a lot of those cases, it’s not like I would be using the money daily like some people would.”
We shouldn’t worry too much about not being able to wager a certain part of our bankroll and exploit our edge. That’s because there are very few instances where we actually have an edge.
For recreational gamblers, the value in futures betting comes in the form of entertainment. A $100 bet on your favorite driver to win the Cup championship, for example, lasts all season. The value of a $100 bet on the same driver to win Sunday afternoon’s race is likely zero by Sunday evening.
So go ahead and make a futures bet or three. You’ll get a season’s worth of excitement for a relatively small amount of money.
Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.
