Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the host of the fourth road course race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Most shops have released odds for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC). Among those books posting odds, DraftKings has lines on which driver will win the pole position.
I was perusing odds to win the race, top manufacturer, etc., and then I got a message from fellow Action Network NASCAR analyst PJ Walsh that began with "Dude … "
I asked myself which driver are we betting on to finish the race in second place? Little did I realize he meant, "which driver are we betting on to start second?"
So here we are.
NASCAR at Indianapolis Pick
*Odds as of Tuesday afternoon
Per Ryan Stevens, Cole Custer is one of just two drivers to make second round qualifying at all three road course races this year.
The other driver? The most recent road course winner, Tyler Reddick.
Custer's starts this year at the road courses are third, sixth and 10th.
That 10th place start — the worst of the three — came at Road America which is the road course that's least like the Indianapolis road course.
Road America has the highest degree of tire wear, while Indy has the least. Also, it's the longest and fastest, while this weekend's event falls somewhere between Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Sonoma.
At those two tracks his average starting position is a healthy 4.5.
In addition, at this very race last year, Custer qualified in the 10th position. While that doesn't sound amazing, that was his best starting position among the seven road course events last year.
Should he better his third-place starting effort at COTA, a pole position is definitely within reach.
If he wins the pole, thank me. If he starts second, blame PJ.
The Bet: Cole Custer 250-1 to Win the Pole | Bet to: 100-1
