Like the United States’ World Cup betting odds against England in the opening game, Danica Patrick’s Indianapolis 500 betting odds have given her a faint chance to win the biggest race in American open-wheel motorsports.  But the former Rookie of the Year has more than a good shot of winning the Indianapolis 500, given her track record here.

Patrick made history with her entrance into the 2005 Indianapolis 500, as she was the fourth woman to race at the Brickyard. Her fourth starting position was the best by a female driver.  She led 19 laps en route to a fourth-place result, which was again the highest by a woman, and she rode her performance at Indy to the Rookie of the Year award, and the first of her four Most Popular Driver awards.

In 2006 and 2007, Patrick finished where she started in eighth place, but 2008 was a mixed bag for her.  First, she won her first career race in Japan, and Indianapolis 500 betting players figured she had a shot at the Brickyard. 

But at Indy, pit road was her downfall as Patrick first hit a member of another team in practice, then she was hit by Ryan Briscoe on lap 171 while exiting pit road.  The race will be more remembered for Patrick trying to get to Briscoe’s pits before track security got in her way.  Patrick ended up finishing 22^nd in the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

Last year’s race was more along the lines of Patrick’s usual success at Indy, but she took it up a notch with a third-place result behind Helio Castroneves, who won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time, and Dan Wheldon.  That would be her best result of the season as Patrick would go on to finish fifth in the point standings at the end of the IRL season.

Patrick winning the Indianapolis 500 would be up there with the Americans pulling out an upset over England if you bet on soccer , as she has to go through the likes of Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and more.

But like the soccer team, it has happened before. The Americans beat the English 1-0 back in Brazil in 1950 in the “Miracle on Grass”, and Patrick would do well to take some lessons from the underdogs.  She’s had a slow start to the season with just one top-10 in five races and a seventh-place run at St. Petersburg, although an 11^th -place run at Kansas was a step in the right direction. 

Patrick just seems to like racing at the Brickyard, and she’s generally a decent driver on ovals, although Indianapolis Motor Speedway is almost like a rectangular oval track.  If you’re feeling risky, lay a little bit on Danica Patrick’s online betting odds for the Indy 500, and you may be surprised.  

[News Source]