Online sports betting is not yet active in Florida. This page will be updated with the latest promos, news and odds once Florida sportsbooks launch.
NASCAR is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. It gets the engine on its season running there with the Busch Clash at Daytona and wraps up its regular season races with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the end of August, also at Daytona International Speedway.
Its most iconic race, the Daytona 500, is in Daytona every February, and the Dixie Vodka 400 heads to the Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida at the end of February. Add it all up, and NASCAR is as much a part of Florida as Florida tracks and race fans are a part of NASCAR.
With legal sports betting in Florida and NASCAR introducing a variety of new in-race betting odds, NASCAR betting could rival the NFL in Florida. To set up an account with a legal online sportsbook and start betting on NASCAR races, check our guide below.
Top NASCAR Betting Sites in Florida
When sports betting is officially live in Florida, you’ll see a list of the best online sportsbooks and bonuses right here.
NASCAR betting odds explained
NASCAR races and the entire NASCAR Cup Series season will have a variety of betting options. There are hundreds for each race, adding up to thousands throughout the year. Here are the most popular bets:
- Outrights: Pick a driver to take the checkered flag in a race. Book your bet at the currently posted odds. With so many potential winners, even the favorites likely will offer decent odds.
- Pole position: Pick a driver to lock up pole position for the race by putting up the fastest time in qualifying. Book your bet at the currently posted odds.
- Podium/top five finish: Pick a driver to finish in the top three or top five. The odds will generally be smaller than outrights because your driver doesn’t have to win the race for you to win the bet.
- Driver matchups and groups: Pick one driver against one other driver or a group of drivers. Your driver doesn’t have to win the race. You win if the driver you bet on finishes ahead of the other driver(s) in the matchup.
- Fastest lap time: Pick a driver to post the fastest lap in the race or an over/under on what the fastest lap time will be.
NASCAR futures betting
Here’s where you can bet on the outcome of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship and other key parts of the season. This may include futures on who will win the championship, who will win the points lead heading into the playoffs, drivers to make the playoffs and which driver will post the most wins throughout the season.
The odds can change throughout the season based on each driver’s realistic chances of winning. However, if your driver wins, you get paid at the odds as when you placed your bet. Usually, the earlier in the season you can get a bet down, the better the odds will be. You’ll find the odds drop dramatically for the favorites when the playoffs and season-ending championship are near.
NASCAR prop bets
If it can happen during a NASCAR race, sportsbooks likely will offer a way to bet on it. Here are some examples of potential NASCAR race props:
- The manufacturer of the winning car.
- Over/under on caution flags.
- Over/under on crashes.
- The driver who holds the lead for the most laps.
- Over/under on number of cars finishing the race.
- Over/under on number of lead changes during the race.
NASCAR live betting
Most of the pre-race betting options you find for NASCAR are also available during races at odds that change with the action on the track. NASCAR and Betgenius also launched a new in-race betting product for NASCAR in 2020. It includes these typical betting options and even more in-race props. That means dozens of bets are available for just about every lap in every race.
Of course, these odds change fast, like 200 MPH fast, so placing your bets on a website or app is the only way to keep up. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to get down a bet before the NASCAR betting lines change again.
How does the NASCAR Cup Series work?
The typical NASCAR Cup Series season runs from February through November. It includes 36 races, 26 throughout the regular season and 10 more in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, including the season-ending NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Through the first 26 regular season races, drivers attempt to accumulate wins and points in an Sandy Alcantara to earn a spot in the playoffs.
The 16 drivers with the most wins make the playoffs. However, if the points leader doesn’t have a win, or if fewer than 16 drivers with a NASCAR Cup Series win throughout the season, the points leader or the rest of the top points earners will receive playoff spots.
Drivers earn points throughout different stages of a race. Each of the first two-quarters of a race represents a stage and drivers in the top 10 receive points: from 10 points for first to one point for 10th. The last half of the race tends to represent the third and final stage, though longer races may include four stages. The winner of the race and third stage grabs 40 points, second gets 35 and the points drop on a scale down to one point for 36th to 40th place.
NASCAR Cup Series playoffs
After the first 26 races, the points reset for the 16 drivers who will compete in the playoffs. All 16 receive 2,000 points to start the playoffs, plus the following additional points:
- One point for each stage they win in the first 26 races.
- Five points for each race they win in the first 26 races.
- Fifteen points to the top point earner over the first 26 races. Plus additional points on a sliding scale down to one point for 10th to 16th place.
The playoffs start with these 16 drivers in three races. Drivers receive more points based on the same formula as during the regular season. The 12 best drivers in the standings after the first three playoff races move on. The playoffs continue with these 12 drivers in another three races, with the eight best drivers moving on. From there, another three races will leave the final four drivers. These four compete for the title in the single-race NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Drivers who place lower in the standings along the way still race, however, competing for fifth and lower.
Florida NASCAR races and biggest NASCAR events
Here are the NASCAR races that take place in Florida, along with some of the sport’s marquee matchups from other states:
- Busch Clash at Daytona on the Daytona Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida: First race of the season in early February.
- Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach: Most notable race of the season; takes place in mid-February. (Find Daytona 500 odds here)
- Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida: Held in late February or early March.
- Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina: Longest race of the season; takes place at the end of May.
- Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach: Regular season finale at the end of August.
- NASCAR Cup Series Championship at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona: Season-ending championship race set for Nov. 7 for the 2021 season.
How are NASCAR odds set and when do they come out?
Sportsbooks release NASCAR futures odds right after the end of the previous season. Individual NASCAR race odds typically come out on the Monday following a Sunday race, although the odds for the first race of the season come out several weeks ahead. Sportsbooks set all these odds based on past and recent performance, race readiness, the current points standings and more. The odds will shift based on these factors, as well, although you can lock in most bets at the current odds.
NASCAR betting vs. F1 betting
NASCAR is stock car racing, which means the cars are all very similar, and it’s up to the drivers to get the best performance out of an almost equal setup across the board. Formula One cars are faster and use the latest tech, which means the cars typically play a larger role in the outcome of a race.
F1 races are much shorter, finishing in two hours or less compared to four or more in NASCAR. Plus, F1 races take place on street-style tracks, while NASCAR sticks mostly to ovals. Of course, that makes for a lot more passing in NASCAR.
Overall, NASCAR is more competitive, driver-driven and purely American, while F1 is dominated by billionaire race teams, and it is more car- and money-driven and mostly European. When it comes to betting, it’s a personal choice, but the competitiveness of NASCAR can mean more attractive odds and lines with less predictability.
Check here for the latest F1 betting odds.
Why bet on NASCAR?
NASCAR can be as exciting as auto racing gets, and with more pre-race and live betting options than ever, betting on it only ups the adrenaline level for race fans. Do a little race research, spread some money around in a variety of bets, and you’ll have even more to follow on race days.
You can bet on everything from who will win the next race to who will capture the NASCAR Cup Series, but that’s just the beginning. Betting extends to who will post the fastest lap time in qualifying, head-to-head driver matchups and groups, podium finishers and the fastest lap time in the race. Plus, there’s a variety of race props allowing you to bet on everything from the number of crashes in a race to the number of cars that will finish.
Why bet on NASCAR? Because it can be fun and exciting, there are many ways to do it at legal FL online betting sites.
Sportsbook rules for betting on NASCAR
Most sportsbooks will post standard auto racing or NASCAR betting rules stating how they will handle certain situations. Many of these are standard throughout the industry but check with the sportsbook where you bet to see if any rules vary. Here are the main standard rules at NASCAR betting sites and apps to be found at top sportsbooks, such as Hard Rock Sportsbook, BetMGM Online, and FanDuel in Florida:
- Postponement: If a race is postponed, bets stand for 48 hours before becoming void if the race doesn’t take place within that time.
- Winner: Official winners stand, even if a race ends prematurely and NASCAR determines the winner of the race.
- Replacement drivers: As long as your driver completes one lap, the finishing option of the car with a replacement driver counts for all bets.
- Disqualifications: Disqualifications count, unless the DQ happens more than 30 minutes after the race ends.
- Head to heads: Both drivers must start, or all head-to-head matchup bets are void.