Indy 500 Odds: Alexander Rossi Favored For 2018 Memorial Day Weekend Race

A disappointing performance in qualifying will force Alexander Rossi to start this year’s Indianapolis 500 from the last row of the starting grid, but the young American is a +800 favorite to capture the checkered flag on the Indianapolis 500 odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Rossi was relegated to Row 11 of the 33-car starting grid for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after turning in disappointing qualifying times on Pole Day Sunday.

However, the 26-year-old has otherwise looked good in the early going of the 2018 IndyCar season, picking up the victory at last month’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and currently sits second to Josef Newgarden in the IndyCar Series rankings.

A native of Nevada City, Calif., Rossi also has enjoyed previous success at the Indianapolis 500, earning his first career win at the 2016 edition of the Memorial Day Weekend spectacle as a lengthy +6600 bet, but he finished a disappointing seventh in last year’s race while sporting +1500 odds.

Rossi closely is trailed on the odds to win the Indianapolis 500 by a trio of drivers deadlocked at +1000, including Newgarden, Helio Castroneves, and Will Power.

Newgarden has tallied two wins so far this season, taking the checkered flag at the Phoenix Grand Prix as a +500 wager, followed by a win last month at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. But success has eluded Newgarden at Indianapolis, where he has cracked the Top 10 just twice in six previous appearances, and finished a distant 19th last year while set at +1500.

A win two weeks ago at the IndyCar Grand Prix as +250 chalk lifted Power to seventh on the IndyCar Series rankings, but like Newgarden he has yet to make it to the winner’s circle at the Indianapolis 500.

Power’s best performance at Indy came in 2015 when he finished second to Juan Pablo Montoya, but the 37-year-old Australian finished a distant 23rd in 2017 despite joining the favorites at +800 on the Indianapolis 500 betting lines.

Conversely, Castroneves will be aiming for a fourth career Indy 500 victory this weekend. In addition to his wins in 2001, 2002, and 2009, the Brazilian veteran has also recorded three second-place finishes, but has posted just one win on the IndyCar circuit since June 2014.

Further down the Indianapolis 500 odds, five racers sit knotted at +1200 including Ed Carpenter, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, Sebastian Bourdais, and Simon Pagenaud. Marco Andretti joins Tony Kanaan at +1500, while last year’s winner Takuma Sato trails at +3000.