Stewart tops in qualifying at Pocono
Autoracing Betting Lines
07/30/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart claimed the pole for Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 after posting the quickest lap in qualifying at Pocono Raceway.
Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, turned a lap of 171.393 m.p.h. around the 2.5-mile triangular track for his second pole of the season and the 14th of his Cup career. His first pole at Pocono came in July 2000.
Last night, Stewart competed in the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car event in Fargo, ND. He arrived at Pocono in the early hours of Friday morning.
"I was really, really upset because I crashed by myself into a marker tire in the inside while running second," Stewart said of last night's race in Fargo. "The last thing [World of Outlaws sprint car champion] Donny Schatz told me before I left was to take it out on those guys tomorrow, so I guess we took it out on the stopwatch today, so I'm really proud of that."
Schatz, who drives for Stewart, won the sprint car race.
Stewart won the Pocono 500 (June race) in 2003 and '09. The driver and owner of the No.14 Chevrolet has yet to win a Cup race so far this season.
Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed the outside pole with his qualifying lap of 171.096 m.p.h. Montoya won the pole for last weekend's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He led the most laps at Indy before crashing with less than 15 laps to go and ending up 32nd.
"Last week was a rough week for the team, but to rebound at a place where we don't run that well, it's nice," Montoya said.
Denny Hamlin, who has won the last two races at Pocono, took the third starting spot, followed by Jeff Gordon, a four-time race winner here, and Ryan Newman.
"We knew the cloud cover was going to help us out," Hamlin said. "We had good speed all day, but we just haven't had a great handling race car and it showed. We were all over the race track there. I'm very happy with the time, and we will start near the front, and that is a good starting spot for Sunday."
Jimmie Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, A.J. Allmendinger, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, the Brickyard 400 winner, and Mark Martin completed the top-10.
Points leader Kevin Harvick will start 14th. Harvick currently holds a 184- point advantage over Gordon.
David Stremme and Max Papis failed to qualify.
The 500-mile race at Pocono is scheduled to start shortly after 1:00 p.m. (et).
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins demoted pitcher Nick Blackburn to Triple-A Rochester on Friday to make room for newly acquired reliever Matt Capps. Blackburn, who received a four-year, $14 million contract la
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Chris Campoli to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday.
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four goals and 18
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A's sign first-round selection Choice >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have signed their top
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Cards agree to terms with Blair >>
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terms with pitcher Seth Blair.
Blair, who was the club's supplemental first round pick, 46th overall, in last
month's draft, will report to Single-A Batavia in th
Padres option Cunningham to Portland >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres on Friday optioned
outfielder Aaron Cunningham to Triple-A Portland.
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for the Padres.
The outfielde
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Football Betting
NFL Football Betting OnlineThe San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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