How New NASCAR Rules Change Could Impact Sports Betting In 2019

As the only major sports league that holds events in Delaware, NASCAR was well-positioned to get a jump on legal sports gambling when the ban was struck down last year.

But a change to NASCAR’s rules might inconvenience bettors this year.

For the first time, NASCAR will disqualify race winners who fail post-race inspection in 2019. That means the car that crosses the start-finish line first won’t necessarily be the official winner when fans bring their betting slips to the window.

In fact, there will be as much as a 90-minute wait between the end of the race and bettors being able to collect their winnings.

“One of our top priorities as a company is reliable and fast payouts to customers,” Mattias Stetz, CEO of Rush Street Interactive, told NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan. “The longer we have to wait for data, the harder it is for us to serve our customers.”

To be fair, neither Stetz nor any of the other sources NBC Sports interviewed foresaw the delay wreaking havoc on NASCAR wagering. We’ll see how understanding bettors are, however, when their long-shot winner ticket is declared worthless an hour after the race due to failing inspection.