The numbers are in after the first weekend of at-track sports betting on NASCAR at Dover International Speedway.
In conjunction with the adjacent Dover Downs Casino, the track established a tent in its FanZone to take bets from NASCAR fans just outside its main entrance Saturday and Sunday.
According to the Delaware Lottery, which oversees sports wagering in the state:
- There was $52,600 wagered on auto racing last week at Delaware’s three casinos, including $12,100 on proposition bets.
- Since sports betting was legalized June 5, there had been $105,900 bet on auto racing (from a total of $40.1 million wagered). So the amount bet on racing during the week that NASCAR raced at Dover nearly matched the prior total ($53,300). Since its launch four months ago, auto racing has accounted for 0.2 percent of the total amount wagered at Delaware’s three casinos.
- Of the $601,700 bet on sports at Dover Downs last week, $17,800 was wagered in the FanZone tent (breakdowns according to sports weren’t available).
- Last week’s “hold” for auto racing, or the amount of money kept by the Delaware Lottery after all bets on the sport were settled, was $3,700 (which is 7 percent of the total wagered on auto racing last week).
According to Dover Downs and track officials:
- There were at least 50 winning tickets on Chase Elliott, who opened at 10-1 and went off at 17-1 before his second career victory.
- Over the course of two days, nearly 3,000 bets were made at the tent, which had a line of more than 50 people during prerace Sunday.
- The breakdown of NASCAR betting was roughly 60 percent on race or stage winners, 20 percent on matchups between two drivers and 20 percent on proposition betting.