The NTT IndyCar Series makes its way to the iconic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday for the Indy 200 (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC or Peacock).
In the last race at Road America, the championship picture got thrown for a loop as three of the top five contenders ran into problems.
Then-leader Will Power got punted by rookie Devlin DeFrancesco.
Defending series champion Alex Palou crashed after contact with teammate, and new championship leader, Marcus Ericsson.
Pato O'Ward had a mechanical failure, ending his day.
As a result, odds to win the title are tight.
Power and O'Ward are co-favorites at Caesars Sportsbook at +300. Behind them, Palou is next at +325. Mid-Ohio race favorite Josef Newgarden sits at +400, while Ericsson is next at +450.
One of these drivers is a clear value bet for this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio.
Let's dive into who, and why.
IndyCar Pick for Mid-Ohio
*Odds as of Thursday afternoon
As I mentioned above, Caesars Sportsbook has Power as the championship co-favorite.
It's a bit mind boggling that the driver sitting second in points, who's favored to win the title and who is a road course ace is 15-1 to win at the exact same book.
It's even crazier when we look at Power's track history.
Last year at Mid-Ohio he had a DNF after Ed Jones plowed into Power's spun car, which occurred while battling Scott Dixon for fourth place early in the race.
Prior to that DNF, Power had been on an absolute tear at Mid-Ohio. Five of his six starts from 2016 to 2020 resulted in top-four finishes, including a win and two runner-up results.
In addition, Power has also finished in the top four in every road course race except last weekend's race at Road America due to the aforementioned incident with DeFrancesco.
That includes a win at the Detroit Grand Prix as well as podium finishes at St. Petersburg and on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course.
While teammate Newgarden should rightly be the favorite for Sunday, Power should be in the elite tier of drivers. However, he's being priced as an upper-mid tier option.
Bet on Power at 15-1 at Caesars Sportsbook. If you don't have Caesars available to you, 12-1 is still available as thin value at multiple books.
The Bet: Will Power to Win +1500 | Bet to: +1200
