The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will serve host to the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at 12:00p.m. ET this afternoon. The annual event, which features the top IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, including Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, and Will Power, will be broadcast live on ABC. The latest Sports Betting Odds have Dixon and Franchitti, teammates under the Chip Ganassi Racing banner, listed at +300 and +350 moneyline odds, respectively, to win today's race. Dixon, at 3 to 1 odds, is the overall favorite.
Scott Dixon, who drives the No. 9 Target Honda (Dallara Chassis), 
comes into today's race sitting eighth in the IZOD IndyCar points standings. Dixon has just one top five finish in four starts this year, leaving him a distant 84 points behind series leader Will Power.
The New Zealand native's history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has made him a favorite this afternoon, though. Dixon, who has two IndyCar Championships under his belt (2003, 2008), won the Indianapolis 500 in 2008, and he has placed no worse than sixth at the legendary race since 2006.
Dixon, who started sixth and took fifth last year at Indy, will start in the No. 2 spot today in the middle of the first row. He has qualified better only time, that being in 2008 when he won the pole.
Dixon's teammate, Dario Franchitti, who drives the No. 10 Target Honda for Ganassi, has had the more successful season thus far as he currently sits second in the points race with a total of 154. Franchitti, a two-time IndyCar Series title winner (2009, 2010), trails Power by only 14 points.
Franchitti, who took first the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida, recorded his second Indianapolis 500 victory last year. Franchitti qualified ninth for this afternoon's race, putting him on the outside of Row Three for the start.
Canadian Alex Tagliani will serve as today's pole sitter. Should Tagliani, who sits seventh in the points standings, win the 2011 Indy 500, he will become the fifth top qualifier to take the checkered flag at the event in the past eight years.
2011 Indianapolis 500 Betting Odds:
Scott Dixon +300
Dario Franchitti +350
Alex Tagliani +450
Dan Wheldon +600
Will Power +700
Oriol Servia +700
Townsend Bell +1000
Helio Castroneves +1000
Ryan Briscoe +1400
Vitor Meira +2000
Danica Patrick +2000
Tony Kanaan +2000
Ed Carpenter +3000
Marco Andretti +3000
Tomas Scheckter +4000
Graham Rahal +5000
Paul Tracy +5000
Takuma Sato +6000
John Andretti +6000
Bertraud Baguette +7500
Justin Wilson +8000
Simona De Silvestro +10000
