Biffle, Bowyer looking to clinch last two Chase spots at Richmond
Autoracing Betting Lines
09/08/2010 -
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday,
September 11. Race: Air Guard 400. Site: Richmond International Raceway.
Track:0.75-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 400. Miles: 300. 2009
winner: Denny Hamlin. Television: ABC. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)
/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
Heading into Saturday's regular season-ending race at Richmond International
Raceway, 10 drivers have already secured a spot in the 12-man field for the
championship Chase.
The last two Chase berths technically remain up for grabs, but Greg Biffle is
almost assured he will make the playoffs. Biffle, currently 11th in points, is
161 points ahead of 13th-place Ryan Newman and needs only a 42nd-place finish
or better, regardless of where Newman finishes, to lock down his position.
"We basically just have to start the race in Richmond to lock in our Chase
spot, but I won't breathe easy until we finish that race," Biffle said.
Clint Bowyer, presently 12th in the standings, holds a comfortable 117-point
advantage over Newman, but anything can happen, especially on the three-
quarter-mile Richmond track.
"I need to make sure I don't screw up, first and foremost," Bowyer said. "In
the end, you need to make sure you don't beat yourself. I've been in this
situation before. Even though there is a lot of pressure, we need to go out
there and do what we've been doing all year long."
If Bowyer finishes 28th or better, he will qualify for the Chase. Bowyer has
performed well at Richmond during his Cup career, finishing no worse than 18th
in nine races here.
"Richmond is definitely the place I feel the most comfortable laying it out on
the line," Bowyer added. "It's one of my favorite race tracks where I've won
at in the past, so it gives us an extra boost of confidence."
Bowyer's second and most recent Cup victory came in May 2008 at Richmond.
Three drivers -- Newman, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin -- are outside the
top-12 and have a very slim chance of making the Chase. Anyone within 161
points of 12th place mathematically remains in contention with one race to go
before the Chase begins.
"Mathematically, we have a chance, and for an engineering guy, I guess that
means something," Newman said. "But I can only try my hardest, and I did that
[last Sunday at Atlanta]. We can't expect to make it all up in one shot."
Despite winning the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 earlier this season,
McMurray sits 128 points behind Bowyer in 14th place.
Martin is 147 points out in 15th. Martin, in his first season with Hendrick
Motorsports last year, recorded five wins and finished second to champion and
teammate Jimmie Johnson in points. The 51-year-old has yet to post a victory
in 2010.
"These next 11 races are going to put me in a different position, and that
might be interesting to me, because I can race each race with not so much to
lose and everything to gain," Martin said.
When the 12-driver field for the Chase is determined, all qualifiers will have
their point totals reset to 5,000. Each driver will then have 10 bonus points
added for every race he won during the regular season.
Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, and Denny Hamlin have the
most wins so far this season with five each. Kevin Harvick, the current points
leader, and Kyle Busch are next in line with three victories apiece.
Hamlin won last year's fall race at Richmond. Hamlin, from nearby
Chesterfield, VA, led 299 of 400 laps and held off Kurt Busch after a late-
race restart to win a Cup race at his home track for the first time.
"I love coming back here, and I love the race track and seeing friends and
family," Hamlin said. "I don't think that will ever wear off. Winning here was
something I'll never forget, but I enjoy just being at that track."
Forty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Air Guard 400.
Mattias Ekstrom will drive the No.83 Red Bull Racing Toyota in place of Reed
Sorenson. The Swedish driver made his NASCAR debut with Red Bull in June at
Sonoma, CA, where he finished 21st. Ekstrom, Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears
have been sharing driving duties in the No.83 car since Brian Vickers had to
curtail his season in May due to treatment for blood clots.
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Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sprint Cup Series' "Chase cut-off race" at
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Kosier, Colombo held out of Wednesday's practice >>
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Kosier and right tackle Marc Colombo both missed practice Wednesday.
Colombo was
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Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa confirmed on Wednesday that
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Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington coach Mike Shanahan wouldn't address
rumors surrounding a possible trade of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and
said the veteran will be with the Redskins for Sunday's season opener against
Dallas.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
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