This is Las Vegas, after all, where sports means a betting opportunity. Wagering on NASCAR has grown immensely during the past decade and the ways to bet and handicap have become more sophisticated.

With the arrival of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, here’s some interesting possibilities to make money on NASCAR.

Straight Up to Win Bets
This is the most uncomplicated bet. Simply bet who you believe will win or whom you want to win. Here’s a sample of last year’s pre-race odds on the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

If you bet $100 to win on Jimmie Johnson, you walked out with a cool $800.

Head-to-Head Matchups
Picking a head-to-head matchup can be easier—and more fun—than simply betting the winner. You can factor in your favorite drivers versus his most hated rival. To win, your driver must simply finish ahead of the other driver.

For example, a head-to-head matchup would look like this:
If you bet Earnhardt to beat Gordon, you had to lay $120 to win $100, while Gordon backers need only to lay $100 to win that same amount.

In some casinos, you can group together more drivers for higher payoffs in this scenario.

Over/Under Prop Bets
Kind of like the over/under points bet in football, this wager allows the bettor to chose a driver and bet whether the driver will finish higher or lower than a certain position. Here’s a prop bet on where Las Vegas native Kurt Busch will finish:

If you bet that Busch will finish eighth or better, you’d bet the under. If you think he’ll finish ninth or over, you’ll bet the over. Like the football bet, it’s paid even money.

Parlays
Like all betting options at Las Vegas sports books, you can arrange your wagers in parlays. While the odds of winning all the bets is often small, the payout sometimes makes it worthwhile.

Handicapping
Like horse racing, studying stat sheets for NASCAR races can be very productive. You can get these stats at the NASCAR website (www.nascar.com) or from one of the sports websites such as CBSsports.com or foxsports.com.

Here are five tips that will make your job easier:
1. Study the driver’s history at the current track. Jimmie Johnson has won the last two UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400s. Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton have also won two of these races in its short history.
2. Many tracks have similar layouts. Whether they’re ovals, high banks or road courses, some drivers are better at one than the other, which should give them an edge.
3. In most races, winning is more than just one driver. The race teams (owning and operating from two to five cars) play a big role in success. Determine how they fared at the current track.
4. The “Happy Hour” speed runs prior to a race can give an indication how a certain car will handle during the race. Those times can be found in many places on the internet.
5. Earnhardt, Gordon, Stewart…. These are the top names in the sport and attract the most bets, making the odds on them less favorable. Study the younger and less notable drivers for an edge. The odds on those drivers will be more realistic—and potentially more profitable.

By Roger Gros

Roger Gros is publisher of Casino Connection and editor and publisher of Global Gaming Business magazine, the industry’s leading gaming trade publication. Prior to joining Global Gaming Business, Gros was president of Inlet Communications, an independent consulting firm. He was vice president of Casino Journal Publishing Group from 1984-2000, and held virtually every editorial title during his tenure. Gros was editor of Casino Journal, the National Gaming Summary and the Atlantic City Insider, and was the founding editor of Casino Player magazine. He was a co-founder of the American Gaming Summit and the Southern Gaming Summit conferences and trade shows. He is the author of the best-selling book, How to Win at Casino Gambling (Carlton Books, 1995), now in its third edition. Gros was named “Businessman of the Year” for 1998 by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.

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