Motorsports best bets: Expert picks for Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 Sun. 5/26

F1 Monaco Grand Prix Bets

• ABC & ESPN+
• 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT)

Jono Rose (F1 expert & Action Network contributor): As the gap to the top continues to shrink behind Max Verstappen, the two F1 teams closing in on the three-time world champion driver are Ferrari and McLaren. Gone are the days of Mercedes vying for race wins and podiums alongside mighty Red Bull. Instead, both Ferrari and McLaren look to have the pace back in their cars and the driver lineup to execute on Sundays going forward.

The perfect example of this has been the most recent two F1 races, down in Miami and at Imola last weekend. While Verstappen won from pole position at Imola, Lando Norris pushed him to the brink at the end of the race and Charles Leclerc came home in third to round out the podium finishes.

Norris did one better down in Miami, winning his first-ever F1 race after staying out for a long stint on his medium tires and getting rewarded with a Lap 29 safety car. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished P4 at Imola and was unlucky not to finish in the points due to a broken front wing battling for P4 against Carol Sainz in Miami.

The recent run of form for McLaren after the upgrades, the starting positions on the grid, and the known difficulty of overtaking around the street circuit of Monaco all support this pick. With Piastri starting in P2 and Norris in P4, I am comfortably laying -250 for both McLarens to finish top six.

The Pick: Double Top 6 Finish – McLaren (-250 at ESPN Bet)

Indy 500 Bets

• NBC & Peacock
• 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT)

Chase Holden (Action App partner & motorsports expert): It's that time of year again, and after taking eventual winner Josef Newgarden in the 2023 Indy 500, I'm ready to do it again with a new driver.

This year I have my eyes on Scott Dixon, the former 2008 Indy 500 winner, to get his second Borg-Warner Trophy on Sunday. With all of the hype around this race, I'm feeling like motorsports bettors might be overlooking value. I was able to lock in Dixon at 18/1, though his odds have shortened since topping the charts at Carb Day. Still, he's a solid pick.

(I do have more than one bet for this season's race, and you can find all of my selections on my profile on the Action App. Best of luck – and have a fantastic "Greatest Day in Motorsports" Sunday!)

The Pick: Scott Dixon to Win (+1500 at Caesars Sportsbook)

Coca-Cola 600 Bets

• FOX & Fubo
• 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT)

Jordan McAbee (Lead NASCAR Analyst at RotoBaller & "Stacking Dennys" cohost): It’s not very often that you hear a driver say that his car is “un-driveable” after practice, but that’s exactly what Joey Logano stated on Saturday. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace was sporty during his group’s practice session.

In qualifying, Logano wound up way back in 28th while Bubba will start this year’s Coca-Cola 600 from 12th place. Honestly, it’s a bit surprising that Logano is the favorite (-125) in this matchup. Bubba walked away with a top-five finish at Charlotte last season and has top-10 potential this weekend. Logano, on the other hand, may struggle to even stay on the lead lap unless his No. 22 Penske Racing team can make some wholesale changes.

For what it’s worth, over the last nine races at low-wear, 1.5-mile tracks this season, Wallace is 6-3 straight up against Joey Logano. My algorithm has Wallace projected to win this weekend’s matchup as well.

The Pick: Bubba Wallace over Joey Logano (-105 at bet365)

Greg Matherne (Director of Sports Betting Content at @WinTheRacep1 & Action App partner): Toyota was fast in practice. In the Speed Geeks Practice Model at Win the Race, five of the top 10 cars in practice were Toyotas. The only top-tier Toyota that didn't look strong was Christopher Bell. Joe Gibbs Racing is infamous for sending out multiple setups in practice, though, so I expect his car to be fine in the race.

My confidence in Bell is bolstered by the fact that Toyota backed up that practice speed with speed in qualifying with a strong performance. Ty Gibbs sits on the pole and three other Toyotas, including Bell, made the final round. Having the pole position is particularly important here at Charlotte as it gives Gibbs the right to use the first pit stall. Last year William Byron had the fifth fastest car in my incident-adjusted speed ranking but used the No. 1 stall to power his way to a second-place finish, consistently overtaking cars on pit road. In addition to the four Toyotas inside the top 10 in qualifying, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace are lurking just outside qualifying at 11th and 12th.

So far at the intermediate tracks longer than one mile in length, Toyota has been very strong in 2024. While Toyota has only one win at those tracks, the team has been in contention to win every one of these races. A Chevrolet, Kyle Larson, leads the Cup Series in average running position at those races, but the next four drivers – Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Martin True Jr. – all pilot Toyotas. I already bet Toyota to win at +150 mid-week, and I see no reason to change how much I like Toyota based on practice and qualifying. So even with the odds getting a little shorter, I'm still on board with Toyota to win at +140.

The Pick: Toyota to Win (+140 at Caesars or Superbook)

Jim Sannes (Managing Editor of Digital Media at FanDuel Research): My model was high on Tyler Reddick prior to Coca-Cola 600 practice, and then he put up quality single-lap and five-lap times there, as well.

Reddick excels on tracks where you can run the wall, and Charlotte has morphed into that in recent years. I've got him at 11.1% to win, up from 9.1% implied at the +1000 odds offered by FanDuel.

The Pick: Tyler Reddick (+1000 at FanDuel)