Indy 500 2022: Latest Race Odds and Sleeper Contenders

This Sunday, 33 drivers will race for 200 laps over 500 miles for the chance to taste that sweet cold milk at the 2022 Indianapolis 500.

Led by Scott Dixon, who earned his fifth career Indy 500 pole with the fastest four-lap average speed and is the favorite to win outright at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, The Greatest Spectacle in Racing should be one for the books.

Miles Teller, star of the summer blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, will serve as honorary starter and wave the green flag to start the race.

From there, Dixon, 2021 IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou and 31 other drivers will once again speed around the Brickyard for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 and give fans of racing's marquee event a show they won't soon forget.

Here's a quick look at the latest 500 odds, followed by three sleepers that bettors should keep an eye for Sunday.

Scott Dixon: +550 (bet $100 to win $550)

Alex Palou: +600

Pato O'Ward: +900

Rinus VeeKay: +1100

Josef Newgarden: +1200

Will Power: +1400

Colton Herta: +1500

Scott McLaughlin: +1600

Jimmie Johnson: +1600

Takuma Sato: +1800

Marcus Ericsson: +1800

Ed Carpenter: +1800

Tony Kanaan: +2000

Felix Rosenqvist: +2000

Alexander Rossi: +2500

Simon Pagenaud: +2500

   

Complete odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Every driver in the Indy 500 wants to cross the checkered flag first to drink their choice of celebratory milk in Victory Lane, and Will Power has done it once before in 2018.

The 41-year old Australian has put some serious numbers on the board in the sport.

To date, he's amassed 38 career wins, 57 poles and the IndyCar Series championship in 2014.

As for pre-race odds, he's the sixth favorite, but with his experience and racing pedigree, he's always a threat to separate himself from the field and claim victory.

Power will roll off 11th for his second-worst starting position of the year, but he is No. 1 in the championship points standings this year with 170.

"Ideally you want to be in the top five for the second half of the race and then cycle through to be in the top two in the last 10 laps," Power told David Malsher-Lopez of Motorsport.com. "If you're not there, you're in a bit of trouble. But you never know how things play out in this game. It could be a fuel race, it could be anything, so you've just got to be prepped for it all."

They say that "three time's a charm" and for two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, that's the goal this Sunday.

Japan's only 500 winner had some trouble during qualifying, getting his first four-lap time deleted after interfering with Marco Andretti's attempt and then making contact with the wall in Turn 2 during his second attempt.

Complications notwithstanding, the 2017 and 2020 winner still made the Fast 12.

Sato's four-lap average of 231.670 mph wasn't enough to get into the Fast Six, so he'll be starting 10th on the inside of Row 4.

The driver of the No. 51 Honda-powered car for Dale Coyne Racing will be running his 13th Indianapolis 500 and will try to use his experience to overcome the odds to get that third drink of cold milk.

"Me participating in the 500 for [so] long now, my respect and the happiness grows bigger and bigger," the 45-year-old told Michelle R. Martinelli of USA Today. "Even if you [don't] win the race, it's just appreciation of participating in the 500 because of the history, because of the scale, because you know how many people are working for this in terms of organization, as well as the teams in preparation, the car, just everything.

"And then just one mistake, you can't win. It has to be perfect to win the race. It's kind of a miracle to all come together. Luck too."

One never forgets their first time, and this will be Jimmie Johnson's inaugural run at the Indy 500.

That said, Johnson is no rookie to the track. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is in the throes of his first season as a full-time IndyCar driver with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Although the 46-year-old is tied for the eighth-shortest odds to win, there have been 10 drivers who have gone on to win the 500 on their first attempt, so there's a chance that Johnson can find himself on Victory Lane in just his second time racing on an oval in IndyCar (he did not run ovals last year).

"I certainly feel like qualifying, having the opportunity to qualify on the oval this weekend, in the equipment I'll be in, I should be able to have a career-best starting position, then look forward from there, try to understand traffic, race my way into the top 10, top five, if possible," Johnson told IndyCar.com before last weekend's qualifying.

Johnson finished sixth at the Texas Motor Speedway oval in March and hopes to find similar success Sunday.