Following what’s arguably been his best start to an IndyCar Series season, Scott Dixon has emerged as the ‘bookies favourite’ to win this weekend’s Indianapolis 500.
In the US, Dixon is a 9/2 favourite to claim a second Indy 500 crown, edging pole-sitter Marco Andretti (7/1) and former winner Alexander Rossi (15/2). Closer to home, the Kiwi is the favourite at the New Zealand TAB, too, currently rated at $5.50 to claim victory.
Rossi, Andretti, and Ryan Hunter-Reay are next in line, at $8.00, $9.00, and $9.00 respectively.
Dixon is poised to start the race from second on the grid, alongside Andretti and Takuma Sato, with rookie Rinus Veekay, Hunter-Reay, and James Hinchcliffe on the second row.
The Ganassi Racing pilot won the first three races of the season; a feat he’s never achieved before. Naturally he leads the championship standings, being 49-points clear of defending Indy 500 champion Simon Pagenaud.
What isn’t in Dixon’s favour is past luck at ‘The Great American Race’. The five-time IndyCar champion still has just the one Indy 500 win, coming in 2008. In the 11 races since, Dixon has only managed to finish on the podium twice.
Nevertheless, he is one of eight former winners on the grid — joined by Rossi, Pagenaud, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Tony Kanaan, Will Power, and the returning Helio Castroneves.