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07/13/2010 - Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Sprint Cup Series takes a break this weekend, the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series compete at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis. The IZOD IndyCar Series runs on the streets of Toronto.
NASCAR
Nationwide Series
Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 - Gateway Int'l Raceway - Madison, IL
The Nationwide Series rolls into the "Gateway to the West" for the start of the second half of the 2010 season. With 18 of 35 races completed, Brad Keselowski heads to Gateway International Raceway, located just outside of St. Louis, with a commanding 227-point lead over Carl Edwards.
Keselowski's 21st-place finish coupled with a seventh-place run for Edwards in last Friday race at Chicagoland allowed Edwards to trim 50 points off of Keselowski's lead.
Edwards and Keselowski, along with Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek and Reed Sorenson, are those Sprint Cup Series regulars spending their off-weekend at Gateway.
One year ago, Kyle Busch added Gateway to his list of different tracks where he has won a Nationwide race. Busch benefited from Harvick's late-race misfortune, as Harvick ran out of fuel and handed the lead over to Busch with 29 laps remaining. He then held off Sorenson and Edwards in the closing laps for his sixth win of the season.
Busch will not defend his race title at Gateway. Brad Coleman will take over driving duties in the No.18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend.
Keselowski's best finish in three Nationwide starts at Gateway is fifth, which came in 2008. When Keselowski competed here for the first time three years ago, he finished 26th in his just his second start for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide team JR Motorsports.
This is Keselowski's first year with Penske Racing.
Edwards, Harvick and Sorenson have two victories each at Gateway. Earnhardt Jr. is the only other repeat winner here.
"I am looking forward to going to Gateway," Edwards said. "Those wins there to me are it. There are no wins that are bigger. Those wins there are as big as any of my Cup wins. I have a lot of folks that are going to come out to the race there, folks that don't get to go to the races a lot, but are good friends of mine."
For the fifth year in a row, Edwards will make his annual trek on bike from his hometown of Columbia, MO to the 1.25-mile Gateway track, which is located five miles northeast of downtown St. Louis.
"We are going to ride our bikes," he said "It is about 200 miles, and we have a pretty crazy crew coming. The first part is going to be a charity event. We are going to leave from Walt's Bicycle Shop in Columbia, and we are going to ride a really neat ride down to the Missouri River, where we will have a bunch of folks help raise some money for a friend of mine that needs help with some hospital bills."
Harvick has competed in four Nationwide races at Gateway, with two victories and three-top-10 finishes. He finished 17th in last year's race here.
"Gateway has been a great track to me over the years," Harvick said. "I have two wins in four Nationwide Series starts, and look forward to continuing that success this time around with the No.33 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet. Gateway is a very unique track with two completely different sets of corners, which makes for some great racing that the fans will enjoy."
Ryan Truex, who is a development driver for Michael Waltrip Racing and the younger brother of Sprint Cup regular and two-time Nationwide champion Martin Truex Jr., will make his series debut at Gateway. The 18-year-old Truex won the 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion. He currently holds the points lead in that series.
"It is a really big opportunity, and I'm just excited to get started," Truex said. "I just can't thank everyone enough at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) for giving me this opportunity.
"Three years ago, I remember racing a Legend car at Wall Stadium in New Jersey, and now I'm here. It's hard to believe how fast it's come, but I'm excited, ready to get started and make the most of my opportunity."
Forty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.
The series will race again at Gateway on October 23. It's the first year this track hosts two Nationwide events in the same season.
Camping World Truck Series
CampingWorld.com 200 - Gateway International Raceway - Madison, IL
The Camping World Truck Series join the Nationwide Series at Gateway International Raceway on the same weekend for the first time.
With the Sprint Cup Series taking a break this weekend, three series regulars -- Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Max Papis -- are entered in Friday's truck race at Gateway. Harvick and Keselowski also will compete in Saturday's Nationwide event here.
Rookie Austin Dillon is hoping his winning momentum will continue at Gateway. Dillon, the grandson of NASCAR multi-team owner Richard Childress and the son of Richard Childress Racing General Manager Mike Dillon, won his first career truck race in dominating fashion last Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
Dillon started on the pole and led 187 of 205 laps to claim his maiden victory in just his 12th truck start. He is the only member of the Childress family to win a race in one of NASCAR's top-three series. His grandfather's highest finish in 258 NASCAR starts was third at Nashville Speedway in 1978, while his father's best run in 154 starts was fourth, which came at Dover International Speedway in 1997 and Hickory Speedway the following year.
The 20-year-old Dillon has yet to compete at Gateway.
"I've been getting a few notes from dad, and some other people have been telling me about the track," Dillon said. "The way our equipment and trucks have been handling, I feel like there's no reason we shouldn't be able to go out there and run well. We might not be able to pick up as fast as we usually do in practice and make the adjustments we're able to make when we were fast right off the truck."
Dillon also set a record at Iowa by becoming the first rookie in the series to win three consecutive poles. Can he make it four poles in a row at Gateway?
"There's a good shot at it," he said. "Four in a row would be awesome. I don't know what the record is for the Truck Series for how many poles in a row, but I'd love to go for it."
Four drivers on the entry list -- Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner and David Starr -- have won a truck race at Gateway in the past. Ted Musgrave is the only driver with multiple truck wins here.
Skinner won last year's race at Gateway in the most unlikely circumstances. Matt Crafton spoiled Hornaday's opportunity for a dominating victory when Crafton spun him out just after a late-race restart. Hornaday hit the wall and slid down the track, with Jason Young slamming into the back of his truck.
Crafton took the lead, but NASCAR penalized him for rough driving. That allowed Skinner to take the lead for the first time. Skinner then held off Johnny Sauter in a green-white-finish for his third and final victory of the 2009 season.
"We won with a fourth-place truck, and at the end of the day when the smoke cleared, the No.5 was in victory lane," Skinner said. "I kept asking myself, 'How did this happen?' But I'll take it."
Hornaday, who led 116 of 162 laps, attempted to become the first driver to win a truck race at Gateway in consecutive years.
Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the CampingWorld.com 200.
IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
Honda Indy Toronto - Streets of Toronto - Toronto, Canada
The IZOD IndyCar Series heads to Canada this weekend for the second running of the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto.
Two weeks ago, Watkins Glen, NY kicked off a string of five races on street/road courses. Edmonton, Canada, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, CA are upcoming on the IndyCar schedule.
Will Power from Team Penske gave his title hopes a huge boost by winning at Watkins Glen. Power picked up his third victory of the season, but his first since March at St. Petersburg, FL. All three of his wins this year have come on street/road courses. He also is the only repeat winner in the series so far this season.
With the win, Power widened his lead from 11 points to 32 over Dario Franchitti, the defending series champion. Franchitti's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon is 40 points behind. Ryan Briscoe sits fourth in points (-47), and Helio Castroneves holds the fifth spot (-54).
With eight races remaining, it looks as though it will be another tight battle for the IndyCar championship.
"No question it's more competitive than it's ever been," Power said. "It's going to be tight. It could come down to five people at the end of the year. It's that close with someone different winning every week."
Franchitti won last year's inaugural IndyCar race at Toronto. He recovered from a pit road mishap and then capitalized on a series of late-race crashes to capture the victory. It was Franchitti's third win of the season.
Power rebounded from an opening lap incident. He cut his right-rear tire after making contact with Graham Rahal heading into the first turn. Power fell almost one lap behind, but bounced back nicely for a third-place finish.
The win at Toronto allowed Franchitti to regain the points.
"For me, I just look at it one at a time, road course, oval, whatever it is," Franchitti said. "It means you have to be on top of your game, whether Toronto, Chicago or Homestead for the last race. You have to be absolutely on it. If you can't win, finish second."
Twenty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Honda Indy Toronto.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
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