How to bet on NASCAR: The best ways to beat the bookies on stock car racing

Motorsports are incredibly popular for sports bettors. You can gamble on Formula 1, Rally, Super Bikes, and other forms of motorsports, but there’s no denying the main attraction across the United States - NASCAR.

The NASCAR season attracts a huge following, with fans visiting the top tracks to see the best-loved events and cheer their favorites to victory.

NASCAR boasts a global fanbase, but viewing figures across the US are most impressive. A recent study into the sport’s popularity revealed stock racing has an estimated active fanbase of 75 million. One way to join the party and enjoy the thrill of racing is to make predictions on the season and next race at legal and licensed betting apps in your city. 

The latest addition to Whop’s popular betting series reveals how to wager on NASCAR.

Why you should trust us

Whop’s resident online betting expert, Frank Monkhouse, explains how you can gamble on a long list of popular and professional sports, competitions, teams, and players. Frank boasts a long history as not only a sports writer, but also a professional boxer.

Today, we shine the spotlight on NASCAR betting. Keep reading to learn the sport's history, important dates for your diary, how to watch the biggest events, where to find the best betting odds, and where to find winning picks. There’s even information on securing a stunning NASCAR free bet today using only your Android or iOS smartphone.

Everything you need to know about NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing—more commonly known as NASCAR—is respected as one of the highest-ranking organizations for motorsports and the main attraction in stock car racing.

It also claims to be one of the biggest spectator attractions in American sports, a claim easily supported by the annual viewing figures.

NASCAR was founded in the winter of 1948 by Bill France Sr and his son, Jim France. With its company headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida, the organization sanctions over 1,000 races yearly from more than 100 tracks in almost 50 states. NASCAR has a rich history and is part of the very fabric of American sports, but it continues to grow, improve, and expand year after year.

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series is the 77th season of professional stock car racing and the 54th of the Cup Series era. The action begins on the first weekend of February, with the much-loved Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.

The drivers and their teams are eager to get started. The officials and broadcasters are in place. The fans are raring to go. All that’s left to do is to call the winner and place your NASCAR bets. How do you gamble on the next race or season? We’ll walk you through the process in this article.

Here are five interesting facts about NASCAR you may not know:

1. NASCAR has its roots in 1930s bootlegging culture.
2. The sport is active in the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
3. NASCAR stock cars can reach speeds of up to 200 mph.
4. Total prize purses for a season can exceed $150 million.
5. The Coca-Cola 600 is NASCAR's longest race at 600 miles (400 laps).

How to watch NASCAR live

As the NASCAR season covers 48 US states, a race is coming to your area soon. The best way to watch professional stock car racing is to purchase a ticket and follow from the track. Take your place in the crowd alongside thousands of other speed lovers and sports fans, cheering on the top drivers and manufacturers for hours as they battle for supremacy.

If you aren’t lucky enough to snag a ticket for one of the 36 races from the NASCAR Cup Series, the next best option is to watch the coverage on television or the best live-streaming apps. Take a comfortable position at home, collect some snacks, and watch the thrill-seeking drivers put their minds and bodies on the line in a quest for glory. 

Here’s where you’ll find stock car racing this season:

Season format and top races

The NASCAR campaign is divided into the regular season and the playoff element of the schedule. The regular season consists of 26 races staged at several important tracks, including road courses and ovals.

Drivers compete at each track to collect points, which are awarded depending on finishing position and winning races. The regular season champion is announced after the 26th race, securing a bonus for the playoffs.

When the first 26 races of a campaign have results, things get even more enjoyable. Known in the industry as the Chase for the Championship, the 16 drivers with the highest number of points from the regular season tackle ten more races divided into four rounds.

At the end of each round, the four drivers with the lowest points tallies are eliminated, and the points return to zero for the next round of races. 

The season's final race is staged at Phoenix Raceway and determines the best of the four remaining drivers. Trophy presentations and celebrations follow the race.

Ten most popular NASCAR races

NASCAR past champions

When making predictions on the NASCAR season, it can pay to have a solid understanding of the sport’s most decorated drivers and teams. In this section of my article on how to bet on NASCAR online, I highlight the most successful names ever to grace the sport. These are the drivers and teams that have become household names worldwide.

We begin by looking at five NASCAR drivers with the most wins to their name. Who are the legends of the sport? The table below reveals all.

Looking for the top champions? Here’s a similar list showing the drivers who have won the most championships.

Turning our attention to the most successful constructors, here’s a list of the top five cars in history, including the number of races won.

How to bet on NASCAR in 4 simple steps

Now you are up-to-date and familiar with the structure of the NASCAR season and the sport’s most decorated names, let’s turn our attention to the focus of this article: how to bet on NASCAR races and the season.

I’ll guide you through the process of betting on NASCAR, from finding a bookmaker to placing a wager and collecting your winnings. The steps remain the same regardless of the betting app you gamble with today.

1. Finding the best sports betting app

When searching for an online gambling app, you’ll discover a saturated market with plenty of choices. The biggest names from the era of land-based betting and sportsbook play in Las Vegas now compete with the best of the new and online-only companies.

How do you find the right bookie? There are five non-negotiables that will help you join the best betting app first time. I’ll guide you through them now.

Welcome bonus

To be in the running, a bookmaker must offer a generous welcome bonus. Most sportsbooks offer a new customer promo to new players, encouraging them to join and ignore the competition. However, some bonuses are better than others, and you must read the small print to get a strong understanding of how the deal works.

The best welcome bonus available today is the deposit-matched free bet, like the one shown in the screenshot above.

When you create an account, deposit $5 or more using a card, and wager on a qualifying sportsbook market, you’ll land up to $300 in bonus bets. Use your bet credits to wager on any sports and competitions, including NASCAR.

Betting odds

In addition to an excellent welcome bonus, bookmakers boast competition-beating odds. The price offered each time you gamble on NASCAR races, and markets should be better than you’d find at other sportsbooks.

How do you find the best offer? Check any respected betting odds comparison app for your selection. There, you’ll see a list of quotes from all major bookmakers, with the highest in bold.

The bookmaker with the highest price is the one you should bet with today. It pays to open an account with several sportsbooks, improving your chances of getting best price.

User-friendly app

When gambling on NASCAR, you need a sports betting app that’s fast, responsive, accurate, and can keep pace with the sport. It’s always worth testing an app before joining, taking the time to familiarize yourself with the features, layout, promotions, markets, and odds. You can browse the pages without creating an account.

The best betting apps are available on desktop and smartphone. A great app allows you to gamble from anywhere and at any time. Wager in seconds by backing a favorite in the next race, or take your time to study the stats, check the odds, read predictions, and research before parting with your stake.

Check out our full guide to the best sports betting apps.

Live-streaming

How we watch and bet on NASCAR is changing thanks to live-streaming. Only the biggest and best sportsbooks offer live-streaming to customers. Create an account, deposit funds, and wager on an upcoming race. You can then visit the livestream tab at the advertised start time to watch the action unfold on your desktop or mobile.

A great livestream is HD-quality with clear sound, exciting camera angles, updated stats, live betting, and expert predictions. Major bookmakers invested heavily in live-streaming technology to help promote their live betting platform and increase the number of wagers placed on every race or market.

Live betting

Live betting, or in-play betting, is available on many sports, including tennis, basketball, soccer, and football. But it works particularly well on NASCAR betting markets. You can wager on an upcoming race before the start or bide your time and gamble when the race is in progress.

Read our full guide to live betting in sports.

2. Joining a betting app

When you’ve found a betting app with all the features listed above, it’s time to create an account. You are free to browse the app, but you must register to gamble on NASCAR and other popular sports.

Thankfully, that takes just a few moments to complete when following the steps below. Use this process at any legal betting app on a modern device.

1. Visit the homepage of your chosen bookmaker and click on the Join button.
2. Complete the registration form, adding your details, including name and address.
3. Create a username and password that’s memorable but secure.
4. Deposit $5 or more and wager on a betting market.
5. A welcome bonus will appear in your betting balance.

You must also verify your details, and the request will come from your bookmaker when you first create an account or withdraw funds. Verification is essential to guard against identity fraud, underage gambling, and other dangers associated with the sports betting industry.

3. Select the right betting strategy

All professional and profitable sports gamblers, including those wagering on NASCAR, adopt a betting strategy. Several tried-and-tested methods are available, but some require more effort than others. You can keep it simple: bet on your favorite driver, wager on the form constructor, or pick a lucky number. 

It doesn’t matter how you find those winners as long as you make a profit and accept that not every gamble will pay off. Here are two popular betting strategies to consider before your next wager on NASCAR.

The first option is to thoroughly research picks before confirming your bet. When gambling on NASCAR, you should know the recent results, form of the best drivers, any problems with constructors, who won the race last year, the current betting odds, relevant injury news, and more. It’s impossible to do too much research or know too much about a race. Remember, the more information you have, the better your picks will perform.

4. Follow the experts

Little is guaranteed in sports betting, but you can be sure the trading team working at your chosen bookmaker has done its research. Reading through the stats, trends, and results, watching interviews, and pouring over the betting odds takes time.

I understand that not all of my readers have the free time to study the form. Thanks to Whop, you can leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.

Visit Whop Discover now, and you’ll find some of the best sports betting handicappers, professional bettors, and motorsports experts online. You can join your favorite from the list available under the sports betting tab on the Whop website or app. They will do the research, find you the best picks, highlight the odds, and promote any bonuses that may improve your chances of making a return.

How to place a bet

Ok, you now have all the information you need to place a bet on NASCAR with a strong chance of returning a profit. You’ve created an account, secured the welcome bonus, studied the stats, and found a reliable tipster at Whop. Now, let’s look at the steps to placing and confirming your motorsports wager. 

Follow the points below to bet on NASCAR or any sports market on your smartphone or laptop at any respected bookmaker. 

1. Log in to your betting account with your username and password.
2. Click on Motorsports > NASCAR > race/market that catches your eye.
3. Select the odds attached to your pick to add to the bet slip.
4. Input your stake, check the bet, and confirm. Your wager is now live.
5. A cash-out value will appear on your bet slip.

The cash-out amount will initially equal your stake but will move depending on how well your pick performs. If your bet is winning, the cash-out offer will creep towards the potential payout of the bet. A good cash-out is one done at the right time to limit the risk and boost the profits of the bet. Cash-out can turn a losing bet into a profitable wager.

Find sports betting advice and education on Whop

Knowing how to bet on NASCAR on FanDuel and other major bookmakers is only half the battle - to give yourself the best shot at success, get advice from experienced cappers.

Visit Whop Discover today, and you’ll uncover a long list of sports picks whops run by experienced gamblers, ex-athletes, and former gambling industry employees. Find the right whop for you and get all the sports picks you need.

Become a better bettor with Whop.

FAQs

When is the NASCAR season?

The 2025 NASCAR season begins on February 2 at Bowman Gray Stadium and ends exactly nine months later at Phoenix Raceway.

How can I watch NASCAR on my smartphone?

You can watch the top races on your Android or iOS smartphone by downloading the FOX, ABC, Amazon, and TNT Sports apps.

How to bet on NASCAR online

Any of the betting apps reviewed on the Whop blog offer in-depth, legal, and licensed gambling on several NASCAR markets throughout the season, including the NASCAR Cup Series winner. Choose your favorite bookmaker and create an account to land a bonus.

Where will I get a NASCAR free bet?

The biggest and best betting apps offer all new customers a welcome bonus free bet. In most cases, this is a deposit-matched free bet you can use to wager on NASCAR or any of the sports available at your bookmaker.

Which app has reliable NASCAR betting picks?

Whop is a hub of activity for NASCAR lovers and sports bettors. Browse the website or app to find sports handicappers on a hot streak, expert gambling tutorials, and more. It’s all available to Whop users now.

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