Will Kyle Larson Win The Indy 500? Here Are The Odds

Kyle Larson begins his second attempt to complete the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 double this week when practice kicks off at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday.

Larson was foiled by weather last year that delayed the Indy 500 and prevented him from making it to Charlotte in time for the start of the Coca-Cola 600.

NASCAR gave him a break and a waiver for the playoffs, even though he missed the race, but this year he’s committed to the Coca-Cola 600 and will leave Indianapolis early and skip the Indy 500 if he has to.

His rookie run went very well. He ran in the top 10 most of the race and even led a few laps before finishing 18th due largely to getting a penalty for speeding in pit late. (Only Kyle Larson would lose the Indy 500 for being too fast, right?)

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Things should go more smoothly for him this year as a veteran, but you never know what’s going to happen at Indy. During an open test in April, Larson got loose and had his first date with the wall. He was uninjured and said he was “happy” to have the experience, so he knows what to expect. He finished a respectable 11th in the combined testing results on April 23, which were led by Scott Dixon and two-time defending Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden.

While that’s not much to go on, the pre-practice odds from BetMGM have Newgarden tied with Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou as the favorites to win with +700 odds. O’Ward was runner-up last year and Palou has started this season with four wins in five races, all on road and street courses.

Scott McLaughlin is just behind them at +800 and followed by Scott Dixon at +1000, with Larson in sixth at +1100, which is doubly coincidental.

That’s because he qualified sixth last year and the combined distance of the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 is 1,000 miles. Hopefully for Larson, he’ll be able to complete both this year.