This Week in Auto Racing July 2 - 4

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/30/2010 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR returns to "The World Center of Racing," while the IZOD IndyCar Series visits the "Finger Lakes" region in upstate New York this Fourth of July weekend.

NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series

Coke Zero 400 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

The next chapter in NASCAR's "boys, have at it" takes place this Four of July weekend when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway for its "mid-summer classic."

This year's 400-mile race at Daytona could very well be a classic...or perhaps a demolition derby.

With what we've seen in previous Sprint Cup races this season, particularly last week at Sonoma, CA, emotions are running high due to the level of aggression on the track.

At this time of the year, it certainly is hot and humid in Central Florida, so don't be surprised if tempers flare in the garage or on pit road before DIS begins its big post-race fireworks show over Lake Lloyd.

"If you're going to take someone out or wrong someone on track, you've got to be ready for the same thing down the road and the points and what's going to come back to you," said Jimmie Johnson, who has won the last two races. "It's awfully exciting. There's plenty to write about and talk about right now."

This will be the third of four restrictor plate races this season. With the Sprint Cup car now running a spoiler and having a slightly different aerodynamic package than the car used for the Daytona 500 in February, and then factor in a larger restrictor plate hole size -- 1 1/32 inch -- Saturday night's race at Daytona should be a thriller.

"With the bigger plate and with the spoiler on the car, the cars are going to pull up faster than they did before, that's for sure," current points leader Kevin Harvick said. "We saw it was a lot faster at the Daytona 500, and now we have a bigger plate. It will be exciting, and you will see a lot of cars passing and moving and going and doing what they did at the Daytona 500, just a little faster."

Harvick's most recent win came in April at Talladega. He also won the pre- season Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.

This race at Daytona also will be the last one before the entire 2.5-mile track surface will be repaved. Daytona last underwent a repaving in 1978.

Earlier this year, the Daytona 500 was marred by two sizeable potholes that emerged on the asphalt between turns one and two just past the half-way point in the race. NASCAR halted the Daytona 500 twice for a total of two and a half hours, as track personnel repaired the potholes.

Additional repairs were made to the damaged area of the track days after the Daytona 500.

"I wasn't real pleased at all to hear that the racetrack was going to have to be repaved, but the time has just taken its toll on the racetrack and some things you just have to do," Harvick said. "I don't think anybody would repave the racetrack if it just didn't absolutely have to be done.

"I feel pretty confident with everything that everybody said from the racetrack that the repairs are good and have tested the Nationwide car there, with the new patch in the corner. Couldn't even tell it was there."

Harvick was one of 26 drivers who participated in last month's two-day test session of the new Nationwide Series car, which makes its debut in Friday night's 250-mile race at Daytona.

With nine races remaining before the championship Chase begins September 19 at New Hampshire, the Chase bubble is tightening up. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is just three points behind 12th-place Carl Edwards. Ryan Newman is 15 points outside the top-12, and Clint Bowyer is only one marker behind Newman.

"There are a lot of guys fighting for that spot," Edwards said. "I think I can safely say that this is going be one of the toughest years to make that Chase that we've had."

Earnhardt Jr. has finished 11th or better in the last three races, while Edwards has finished no better than 12th since five races ago at Dover.

Jamie McMurray, currently 17th in points, has won two of the last three restrictor plate races. McMurray won at Talladega in November when he drove for Roush Fenway Racing. His Daytona 500 victory earlier this year came in his first race with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.

"It will be cool to get back to Daytona and just to see that track again," McMurray said. "Certainly leaving there after winning the 500, it is crazy what you are going through."

McMurray will try to become the first driver to win both races at Daytona in the same season since Bobby Allison accomplished the feat in 1982. McMurray won the July race at Daytona in 2007.

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Coke Zero 400.

Nationwide Series

Subway Jalapeno 250 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL

After three-plus years of design, testing and back-and-forth discussion with teams about the proper rollout time, the new Nationwide Series car will make its debut on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Ford will showcase its popular Mustang. The auto maker currently uses its Fusion in Sprint Cup and Nationwide, while its F-150 model competes in the Camping World Truck Series. The Mustang has been used in NHRA drag racing, Grand-Am and Formula D drifting.

Dodge will introduce the Challenger, while Chevrolet will bring a new model of its Impala, and Toyota will keep its standard version of the Camry.

Nationwide teams partake in a special four-hour practice session at Daytona on Wednesday.

"I don't really know what to expect this weekend with the new car, but I'm still excited about it," said Nationwide veteran Jason Leffler, who drives the No.38 Toyota for Braun Racing. "Going into this weekend, there's not much you can do to be prepared, but just make sure your car is put together right and go from there.

"Having that test day on Wednesday is really important and will allow us more time to adjust to these cars and give us a better idea of what to expect on Friday night."

Twenty-six drivers and 32 cars representing 12 teams participated in last month's two-day test session of the new car at Daytona.

"It's really a neat looking race car, said Kevin Harvick, a Sprint Cup regular and part-time Nationwide competitor. "Climbing in and out of it, you realize how much more comfortable it is from a driver's standpoint to have more room in the safety aspects of it.

"I think it's going to be a pretty neat race this weekend. The cars move around and slide around a lot. I'm really excited about the new car. The best part about it is that 18 car [Kyle Busch] won't have those cars to race any more, so hopefully we can close that competition gap on the Nationwide side."

The new car also will race at Michigan (August 14), Richmond (September 10) and Charlotte (October 15). It is targeted for full integration in Nationwide next year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also will add excitement to this race, as he will drive the No.3 Wrangler Chevrolet, which was made famous by his father, Dale Earnhardt.

"This will be a special weekend for us," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We got together with Richard [Childress] and Teresa [Earnhardt] and put this deal together to honor my dad and his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We're bringing back this Wrangler paint scheme, because it's kind of what started his whole persona as being the tough guy that he was."

Dale Earnhardt holds the record for most Nationwide wins at Daytona with seven. He also won 22 Cup races in the No.3 Wrangler Chevrolet.

"This is a one-time deal," Earnhardt Jr. added. "I have no intentions of making it a habit to run special paint schemes with my dad's number every year, and I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I drive the No.3. It's my dad's number."

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Subway Jalapeno 250.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES

Camping World GP at The Glen - Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY

Watkins Glen International kicks off five consecutive street/road course races for the IZOD IndyCar Series. The series will run in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Edmonton before returning to the United States for Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, CA. The next IndyCar oval event is scheduled for August 28 at Chicagoland.

After a fourth-place finish two weeks ago at Iowa, Will Power from Penske Racing reclaimed the championship points lead. Power holds an 11-point advantage over Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, while Dixon's teammate, Dario Franchitti, dropped to third in points (-14) after his disappointing 18th-place finish at Iowa. Franchitti led the most laps with 69, but suffered a gear-box issue late in the race, which put the defending series champion 36 laps behind.

Power won two of the first four street/road course races this year. He kicked off the season with back-to-back victories at Sao Paulo, Brazil and St. Petersburg, FL.

Ryan Hunter-Reay from Andretti Autosport won the most recent street/road course event held in April at Long Beach, CA. Hunter-Reay's first win in the series came two years ago at Watkins Glen. He drove for the now-defunct Rahal Letterman Racing team at the time.

Last year at Watkins Glen, Justin Wilson put on a dominating performance and easily held off Ryan Briscoe and Dixon in the final laps for the win. Wilson not only scored his second career IndyCar victory, but also gave Dale Coyne Racing its first win in open-wheel competition.

"I think it's one of the best tracks in the world," Wilson said. "Having won there last year I'm going to say that, but it's just a great, fun track. There are a lot of fast corners, and it hasn't lost any of its character with the safety improvements. That's key. When you come out of those fifth-and-fourth gear corners, you know when you've got it right."

One year ago, Wilson became the first non-Ganassi or Penske driver to win an IndyCar race since his victory at Detroit in August 2008 when he drove for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. He is now behind the wheel of the No.22 car for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.

"I'm focused on this year, hoping we can go back there and be as competitive," said Wilson, who currently sits eighth in points. "It's a different team, but I want to get back that same level of competition. Hopefully we can work it all out and repeat."

Wilson had three top-10 finishes, including two second-place runs, in the four early season street/road course races. He also has started on the outside pole in the last two Watkins Glen races.

Canadian Paul Tracy will be Wilson's teammate at Watkins Glen. Tracy is substituting for the injured Mike Conway in the No.24 Dreyer and Reinbold car. Conway continues to recover from injuries he sustained in a horrifying crash during the final lap of the May 30 Indianapolis 500.

Tracy previously announced that he would drive in the two upcoming Canadian races.

"It's obviously a good feeling to get more races, especially being able to race at The Glen and building up momentum before going into the Canadian events," Tracy said.

Twenty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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