Josef Newgarden Favorite to Win 2023 IndyCar Drivers Championship

What: 2023 IndyCar Season

When: March 5 – September 10, 2023

The 2023 IndyCar season began on March 5 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. That race saw three drivers dominate between 2015 and 2020, with Juan Pablo Montoya winning in 2015-16, Sebastian Bourdais capturing the victory in 2017-18 and Josef Newgarden winning in 2019-20. No one has won the race in consecutive years since Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin did so in 2021 and 2022. Marcus Ericsson picked up the victory in 2023. The next event on the 2023 IndyCar Series schedule is the PPG 375 at the Texas Motor Speedway on April 2.

In 2022, Will Power won the IndyCar season Drivers championship. Power, driving for Team Penske, picked up 560 points during the season. Josef Newgarden, also driving for Penske, came in second with 544 points. The third-place finisher in the Drivers Championship race was Scott Dixon with 521 points. Dixon drove for Chip Ganassi Racing.

With the majority of the 2023 IndyCar Season in front of us, it’s time to look at the betting breakdownpicks, odds and predictions for the 2023 IndyCar Drivers Championship, check out the best sites for betting on Formula 1 racing and the best sports betting apps and mobile options for betting on auto racing and other sports.

2023 IndyCar Drivers Championship picks

To Win 2023 Indy Car ChampionshipBetOnline ReviewBovadaGTBets Review
Josef Newgarden+400+400+400
Will Power+450+450+450
Pato O'Ward+600+600+600
Colton Herta+800+800+800
Scott McLaughlin+800+800+800
Alex Palou+850+850+850
Scott Dixon+900+900+900
Marcus Ericsson+1400+1400+1400
Felix Rosenqvist+2000+2000+2000
Kyle Kirkwood+2000+2000+2000
Alexander Rossi+2500+2500+2500
Rinus Veekay+3000+3000+3000
Simon Pagenaud+4000+4000+4000
Christian Lundgaard+5000+5000+5000
Graham Rahal+5000+5000+5000
Roman Grosjean+5000+5000+5000
David Malukas+6600+6600+6600
Helio Castroneves+6600+6600+6600
Conor Daly+10000+10000+10000
Jack Harvey+15000+15000+15000
Santino Ferrucci+15000+15000+15000
Callum Ilott+25000+25000+25000
Benjamin Pedersen+40000+40000+40000
Devln Defrancesco+40000+40000+40000

Josef Newgarden

The 32-year-old Josef Newgarden has Drivers Championship wins in 2017 and 2019. The Team Penske driver has finished second over the past three years, losing the title to Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Will Power in those years. Newgarden opened 2023 with a 17th-place finish in St. Petersburg, one spot lower than he finished in 2022.

Newgarden had an excellent year in 2022, picking up wins at Texas, Long Beach, Road America, Iowa (1) and Gateway. However, his finishes outside the top 10 at St. Petersburg, Alabama, GMR Grand Prix, Indianapolis, and Iowa (2) hurt him in the standings. In his last winning year, Newgarden only placed outside the top 10 three times.

Josef NewgardenTO WIN 2023 INDYCAR DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP
★★★★★
+400
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Will Power

The defending IndyCar champion, Will Power returned to the top spot in 2022 after winning the Drivers Championship for the first time in 2014. Power started 2022 strong with top five finishes in the first five races of the year. Then, following a 15th-place finish at the Indy 500, the 42-year-old bounced back with a win in Detroit, which proved to be his only victory of the year. Power finished the year strong with a sixth, a second and a third-place finish.

While Power only had one win in 2022, he started on the pole five times, including his record-breaking fifth pole at the Indy 500.

Had Power finished lower than third in the final race of the 2022 season, he would have missed out on his second title.

Will Power TO WIN 2023 INDYCAR DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP
★★★★★
+450
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Pato O’Ward

The 23-year-old Pato O’Ward is in his fourth year with the Arrow McLaren team. Last year, Ward took a step backward. After finishing in fourth place in 2020 and third in 2021, he dropped to seventh in 2022, winning two races, but finishing outside the to five in nine other races. He was lower than 20th in three of those outings.

Inconsistency plagued O’Ward for most of the 2022 campaign, but he put things together near the end of the IndyCar season and finished the year with two fourth-place finishes and an eighth-place.

Outside of his two wins, O’Ward finished in second place at the 2022 Indy 500. He opened the 2023 season with a second-place finish at St. Petersburg, improving from his 12th place in that race in 2022.

Pato O'Ward TO WIN 2023 INDYCAR DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP
★★★★☆
+600
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Best bet to win the 2023 IndyCar Series Drivers Championship

Look for Team Penske to win the IndyCar Championship in back-to-back years for the first time since Simon Pagenaud won in 2016 and Newgarden won in 2017. However, I don’t think Will Power will score a second consecutive championship. No, the best bet for the 2023 IndyCar Series is for Josef Newgarden to end his stretch of runner-up finishes.

Pick: Josef Newgarden to win the 2023 IndyCar Series Drivers Championship.

Josef NewgardenTO WIN 2023 INDYCAR DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP
★★★★★
+400
Bet now

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Trent Reinsmith

Trent is a professional sports journalist specializing in UFC, MMA, and esports coverage. His work has been featured in prestigious publications such as USA Today Sports, Vice, Bloody Elbow, Fight! Magazine, UFC 360, and Narratively. Trent's connection to MMA dates back to the early days when he and his friends pooled their resources to purchase the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 1. He also has extensive experience in esports, particularly League of Legends and Counter Strike, dating back to the game's launch.