Indianapolis 500 2022: Jimmie Johnson Betting Odds, Preview & Prediction
When seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson decided to retire from full-time NASCAR competition, I don’t think many fans expected him to start running a full-time schedule in the NTT IndyCar Series. Yet the veteran has done exactly that.
At 46 years old and with so many NASCAR accolades to his name, Johnosn has nothing left to prove. Well, except that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Johnson has struggled in open-wheel racing thus far, and he hasn’t really shown signs of improvement. However, Johnson won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway four times in the NASCAR Cup Series, so there is no time like the present for the veteran to prove his doubters wrong.
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Jimmie Johnson IndyCar Betting Odds
- Winner: +1600
- Podium: +450
- Top 5: +200
- Matchup: +100 vs. Marcus Ericsson
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Jimmie Johnson Track History
Johnson is one of seven drivers entered in this year’s event to have never started an Indy 500. Of the others, five are youngsters with bright careers ahead of them. The other, Romain Grosjean, is a recent transplant from Formula One. None boast Johnson’s impressive oval resume.
The former NASCAR Cup Series champion won here four times in that series, and he recorded six top-five results. In 2012, Johnson led 61.2% of the laps in a NASCAR race here on his way to a win. He led just under half of the laps in two other Indy races, one in 2008 and the other in 2013.
Jimmie Johnson Recent Form
Unfortunately for Johnson, the NTT IndyCar Series is a different beast than the NASCAR Cup Series. All of Johnson’s NASCAR championships came on a schedule with 34 oval circuits and just two road-course events. In contrast, this year’s IndyCar schedule features 12 road courses and just four ovals. Johnson is yet to finish better than 19th on a road course in an IndyCar. That result came last year, too—Johnson has no finish better than 20th on a road course this season.
But Johnson looked good in his first-ever IndyCar race on an oval. He finished sixth in Texas after starting 18th and running no better than 13th in practice. That performance seems to have set him up well for Indianapolis, as Johnson qualified 12th for this year’s Indy 500. Johnson has even ranked third fastest in three separate practice sessions! Things are looking up for the NASCAR transplant at the moment.
Jimmie Johnson Indy 500 Prediction
Johnson Top 5: +230 (.5u) at BetMGM
This line is frustratingly short for a driver who is yet to record a top-five in the NTT IndyCar Series, but I think it’s Johnson’s best market. He nearly scored a top-five result back at Texas Motor Speedway, after all. While Johnson will have to compete against more drivers at Indy than here did there, Chip Ganassi Racing has shown the most speed all weekend and could easily put two or three cars in the top five. Let’s wager a half-unit on Johnson that will land us more than a full-unit return should he have a solid showing.
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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.