Ryan Briscoe is just seventh in the IndyCar driver standings heading into the season's marquee event this weekend, the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, after qualifying in first place and taking the pole position for the race Briscoe is currently listed as the favorite on the Bovada Indy 500 odds to get the win on Sunday.

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Briscoe tops odds list for the Indianapolis 500

Briscoe, however, hasn't won yet on the IndyCar Series so far this season, and he ended up way back in 27th place at the event in 2011 – in the race won by the late Dan Wheldon. Still, with the top qualifying run he's listed at 7/2 odds at Bovada to take the checkered flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the circuit's fifth 2012 race.

Helio Castroneves is next at 11/2 odds, followed by Will Power at 6/1 odds.  Castroneves won the season-opening event at St. Petersburg and sits second behind Power in the current IndyCar Series standings. Starting sixth on the grid this weekend, Castroneves last won the Indianapolis 500 in 2009, to go along with his victories in the race in both 2001 and 2002. Last year, though, he had to settle for a 17th-place result in the Indy 500.

Dominant Power seeks his first Indy 500 victory

Power might be just third on the IndyCar odds for this week, but he's managed to win three of the circuit's four races so far this season (Barber, Long Beach, and Sao Paulo) and holds down a big 45-point lead on Castroneves in the current driver standings. Power will start from the fifth spot on the grid on Sunday, and finished 14th at the race back in 2011.

James Hinchcliffe, who is third in the current IndyCar season standings behind Power and Castroneves, is then at 17/2 to get the win on Sunday, with Dario Franchitti rounding out the top five contenders at Bovada at 9/1 odds. Hinchcliffe qualified second behind Briscoe for the race, and was 29th at the event last season. Franchitti, who was 12th last year and will start 16th on Sunday, was the Indianapolis 500 champion in both 2010 and 2007.

Andretti, Dixon lead second tier of contenders

Marco Andretti and Scott Dixon are then both at 10/1 on the odds to win the Indy 500 at Bovada, with Dixon having won the race in 2008 but starting 15th at the event this weekend. Dixon was fifth at the race last year, while Andretti ended up in ninth place. Andretti is back in 19th place in the current IndyCar Series standings, but he qualified in fourth behind Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, and Ryan Hunter-Reay for the race this weekend.

Hunter-Reay sits at 12/1 on the Indy 500 odds, followed by Tony Kanaan at 14/1, Josef Newgarden at 20/1, and Graham Rahal at 35/1; Hunter-Reay is fourth in the current standings but ended up 23rd at the Indy 500 last season, while rookie Newgarden performed well at qualifying and will start seventh on the grid on Sunday. J.R. Hildebrand sits at lucrative 40/1 odds to win on Sunday despite finishing second at the race in 2011.

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