This Week in Auto Racing September 19 - 21

Autoracing Betting Lines

09/16/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After kicking off the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship in Loudon, NH, round two of the playoffs moves through the Delmarva Peninsula to "The Monster Mile" in Dover, DE this weekend. The Nationwide Series will join the Sprint Cup Series in Dover, while the Craftsman Truck Series heads to "Sin City" for a date at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series

Camping World RV 400 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

Last Sunday's Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway, the first race in the "Chase," created a surprising shakeup in the championship standings. After dominating the "regular season" with eight victories, top- seed Kyle Busch finished 34th and dropped to eighth place, 74 points behind new leaders Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile, Greg Biffle snapped a 33-race winless streak with a victory at New Hampshire and moved from ninth to third in the standings.

Now it's on to the one-mile, concrete-surface Dover International Speedway for this weekend's Camping World RV 400.

If Busch is looking to rebound, Dover is the place where he can do it. He has scored five top-five finishes in seven starts at Dover, including a victory there in June.

Biffle has also performed well at Dover lately, finishing 13th or better in the last seven races there. He won there in June 2005.

Biffle, in his second "Chase," was possibly overlooked as a title contender, but after winning at New Hampshire, it's changed everybody's thinking, particularly his.

"I think it inspires me a little bit to want to make a statement, I guess." Biffle said. "I've been thinking about it for quite some time. I just thought about what I need to do for the next 10 weeks. I've thought over and over about it. Just got to get my car right on Friday and Saturday, and drive the best race I can on Sunday. The best man's going to win at the end of the 10 weeks. I just can't wait to go to Dover."

Biffle made the "Chase" for the first time in 2005, finishing just 35 points behind champion Tony Stewart.

Eight of the 12 drivers competing in the "Chase" have won at Dover. Jeff Gordon leads all active, full-time drivers with four victories at "The Monster Mile." Johnson has won there three times, compared to two for Stewart. Biffle, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Edwards and Matt Kenseth each have one victory at Dover.

Edwards is the defending race winner. He grabbed the lead from Kenseth with 38 laps to go and then held off Biffle at the finish for the victory. Kenseth, who led the most laps with 192, suffered engine failure in the very late stages and ended up finishing 35th. Edwards' car failed post-race inspection after officials found the right rear of his car to be too low. The victory held, but Edwards was docked 25 driver points as part of his team's penalty.

Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, moved into a points tie with Edwards after his second-place finish at New Hampshire. Johnson also shared the points lead with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon after New Hampshire one year ago.

"I certainly feel good about things," Johnson said. "Last year, I had some fun through it. And this year I hope to expand on that and have more fun. I'm doing what I love, racing against the best drivers in the world. I'm confident in what I can do in the car. I'm confident in my team. I need to have some fun with this. I operate better and my team operates better when we're enjoying ourselves and having some fun. I'm looking forward to it."

Clint Bowyer, last year's surprise title contender, entered his second straight playoffs in the fifth seed. Bowyer picked up his first career Cup victory at New Hampshire one year ago and battled for the championship all the way through the season-ending race at Homestead, finishing the year third in points. He finished 12th at New Hampshire last Sunday, but since eight other "Chase" drivers finished ahead of him, he dropped to ninth in the standings, 83 points out of the lead.

"It was a decent day for the Jack Daniel's Chevrolet but, I'll be honest, I'm disappointed to have finished 12th," Bowyer said. "I think we had a better car than that. Our pit strategy didn't work out as well as we hoped. We'll be better at Dover."

One driver desperately needing a strong run at Dover is Kenseth, who finished 40th at New Hampshire after being involved in an accident in the mid-stages of the race. The 2003 Cup champion remains 12th in the standings, but is now 177 points down. He has scored four top-10 finishes in the last five races at Dover with a victory there in June 2006.

Nationwide Series

Camping World RV Sales 200 - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

After taking a week off, the Nationwide Series returns to action on Saturday with the Camping World RV Sales 200 at the Dover International Speedway. Clint Bowyer holds a 207-point lead over second-place Carl Edwards and a 279-point advantage over third-place Brad Keselowski with seven races to go in the season.

Despite only one victory so far this season, which came in March at Bristol, Bowyer has been consistent lately, scoring four-straight top-10 finishes. He dominated Richmond by leading 195 laps but ended up finishing third.

"It was a good points race for the BB&T Chevrolet, but we had a dominant car and I wanted to win," Bowyer said. "Finishing third is a good night but winning would have made it better."

Bowyer gave up the lead to Edwards on Lap 228 when Bowyer's car wiggled, allowing Edwards to pass underneath him.

Edwards has gained some ground on Bowyer in the points race since his setback last month at Bristol, where he crashed in the early stages of the race and spent 83 laps behind the wall for repairs. Edwards ended up finishing 37th and fell 241 points behind Bowyer. Since then, he has finished second at California and won at Richmond.

Edwards won the Nationwide race at Dover in June 2007 and has finished second and sixth in the last two races there.

Earning the nickname "Concrete Carl" after all four of his victories last year came on a concrete-surface, Edwards has yet to win on that type of track in 2008. Bristol, Dover and Nashville are the concrete tracks on the Nationwide circuit.

Bowyer, meanwhile, has recorded four-consecutive top-10 finishes at Dover, including a victory there in September 2006.

Keselowski moved to within 122 points of Bowyer after winning at Bristol but has fallen considerably in points after finishing 33rd at California and 21st at Richmond.

Keselowski finished 24th in his first race at Dover in June 2007 but has finished seventh in his last two races there.

Sprint Cup regular Denny Hamlin has won the last two Nationwide races at Dover, and if he scores the victory in Saturday's race, he will become the first driver to win three in a row there.

Jason Keller will have a new ride starting at Dover. Keller, the all-time starts leader in the series with 450, will make his debut in the No.27 Ford for Baker Curb Racing. He'll finish out the season with the team and then drive for them full-time in 2009.

"I am very thankful that (team owners) Gary Baker and Mike Curb have given me this opportunity," Keller said. "It is also a wonderful opportunity to represent such a first-class company like Kimberly-Clark and their family of brands. Baker Curb Racing has some great guys working on their cars, and I am excited about working with them in 2008 as we build the program for a strong 2009 season."

Keller is 11th in the standings, 32 points behind 10th-place Jason Leffler. His driver points will transfer to his new ride.

Craftsman Truck Series

Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV

The championship points battle in the Craftsman Truck Series between Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday, Jr. continues at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Saturday's running of the Qwik Liner Las Vegas 350.

After winning two straight races, Hornaday has moved to within 74 points of Benson. The defending series champion won at New Hampshire days after he admitted to using prescribed testosterone cream in 2004 and 2005 for a serious medical condition. NASCAR officials met with Hornaday last Friday at New Hampshire and cleared him of any wrong-doing.

Hornaday holds the series record for career victories with 38 but has yet to win at Las Vegas.

"I've had some good runs at Las Vegas over the years, and I like the track," Hornaday said. "Its similar to racing at Texas, Atlanta and Charlotte. They all have the same layout. We put together a decent run last year, but had a tire issue late in the race that cost us a good finish. Our mile-and-a-half program has been great this year. I don't see why we cannot have another good run on this type of track."

Hornaday has scored five top-10 finishes in seven races at Las Vegas with his best finish of second coming in 1998, the year he won his second series championship. He finished 22nd in last year's race there.

Benson has finished fourth or better in three of the last four races at Las Vegas. His other finish in the four-race period there was 33rd, which came in 2005. Benson won in July at Kentucky, a track very similar to Las Vegas.

"I'm hopeful we can have the same outcome Saturday night," Benson said. "(Crew Chief) Trip Bruce and the guys on the Exide Batteries Toyota have been working overtime trying to bring trucks to the track that can win."

As of Tuesday evening, just 31 entries were listed for Las Vegas, five short of a complete field. NASCAR veteran John Andretti is among those entered, driving the No.15 Chevrolet for Billy Ballew Motorsports. He has not competed in a truck race since August 2005 at Nashville.

"I'm looking forward to racing at Vegas," Andretti said. "I've raced with Billy Ballew Motorsports back in 2005 and the organization has proven a lot. I can't wait to get back and race in the series. I had a lot of fun when I raced with this team a few years ago, and I think we're going to have a good time in Vegas."

Four of the remaining seven races on the 2008 schedule are on intermediate (1.5-mile) tracks -- Las Vegas, Atlanta, Texas and Homestead.

Las Vegas joined the series in 1996 and has held 11 events. There was no race in 2000. The 1998 season-ending Sams Town 250 decided the closest championship in series history with Jack Sprague winning the race but Hornaday finishing second and clinching the title by only three points. The track was reconfigured in 2006 with banking in all four turns increased from 12 to 20 degrees.

Webmiilion Autoracing Betting News

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Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Scott homered and Chris Waters hurled nine scoreless innings to lead Baltimore over Toronto, 2-0, in the opener of a three-game set from Camden Yards. Brian Roberts knocked in the other run for the O

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Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Lowe tossed seven strong innings and Casey Blake had three hits and a pair of RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong play in the month of September with a 6-2 victory over the Pit


Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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