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09/26/2009 - Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clint Bowyer grabbed the lead from Kyle Busch with 83 laps remaining and then held off Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski in a seven-lap shootout to the finish to win Saturday's Dover 200 Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Busch, who won at Dover one year ago, had the dominant car for the first half of the 200-lap race but Bowyer came on strong shortly after the midway point and took over from there.
Bowyer, the 2008 Nationwide champion, recorded his second win in his ninth start this season. The Richard Childress Racing driver also posted his eighth career victory, including a win here in September 2006.
"This hasn't been the best year for our Nationwide team," Bowyer said. "[Crew chief] Doug Randolph and the guys on this No.29 team dug deep. This is a new race car."
Bliss, driving the No.11 Toyota CJM Racing Toyota for the first time this season, finished second, while Keselowski came in third. Keselowski bumped Denny Hamlin from behind, sending Hamlin into the inside wall after he was running in the fourth spot. The incident set up the seven-lap sprint to the finish.
"[Denny] left a hole to pass him, and at this level, it's different than other levels because we have spotters, and I know for sure, my guys told me, that his spotter told him I was down there, and he just tried to take advantage of me," Keselowski said. "I'm not going to be pushed around."
At the conclusion of the race, which was threatened by incoming rain, Hamlin waited for Keselowski on pit road, but both teams prevented any post-race altercations that might have occurred.
"[Brad] has no idea how to race," said Hamlin, who finished 27th. "He'll get a ride and hang around for a couple of years. Then people will realize that he's not really that good."
Keselowski will move over to the Sprint Cup Series next year, driving the No.12 Penske Racing Dodge, which is currently occupied by David Stremme.
Busch encountered radio issues and had difficulty communicating to his team throughout the race. He also dealt with a loose car in the late stages before he wound up with a fourth-place finish.
"We had a great car in the beginning," said Busch, who started on the pole and led a race-high 109 laps. "We might have started off a little bit tighter than everybody else, but the more the race went on the looser we got for some reason."
Busch became the second driver in NASCAR's second-tier series to lead more than 2,000 laps for the season. Sam Ard led a total of 2,099 laps during his 28-race championship season in 1984. Busch also padded his lead to 211 points over Carl Edwards, who finished fifth.
Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson, Scott Speed, David Reutimann and Jason Keller completed the top-10.
<< Pernice looking for win in Champions Tour debut
Cary, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Pernice, Jr. fired his second consecutive
five-under 67 on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the
SAS Championship.
This is Pernice's debut on the Champions Tour and he finished 36
<< Cowboys RB Barber questionable vs. Panthers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber is
questionable for the team's Monday night game against Carolina.
Barber is dealing with a left quadriceps strain and was limited in practice
all week.
Head
<< Goal-line stand helps No. 7 LSU hang on vs. Mississippi State
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Jefferson threw for 233 yards and a
pair of touchdowns as seventh-ranked LSU escaped with a 30-26 decision over
Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium.
Brandon LaFell added six catches for 101
<< Around FCS: Harvard under lights
Cambridge, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When Harvard Stadium was established in 1903,
the last thing on anyone's mind was lights. It had been little more than 20
years earlier that anyone had harnessed electricity.
There is no doubt that the Harvar
Gomis fires Lyon to top of Ligue 1 >>
Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bafetimbi Gomis scored the game-winning goal
in the 71st minute, leading Lyon to a 2-1 win over Toulouse at the Stade de
Gerland on Saturday and into first place in France's Ligue 1.
Yannis Tafer scored
Buckeyes post another shutout, rout Illini in Big Ten opener >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Herron and Brandon Saine combined for
156 yards on the ground, and the 13th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes used a
dominant rushing attack in rainy conditions to shut out the Illinois Fighting
Illini,
TCU earns tough road win at Clemson >>
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antoine Hicks' 25-yard touchdown reception
early in the fourth quarter was the difference, as 15th-ranked TCU edged
Clemson, 14-10, in a non-conference clash.
Andy Dalton went 17-of-26 passing for
Ducks destroy No. 6 Cal >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremiah Masoli threw for 253 yards and three
touchdowns, as Oregon blew out No. 6 California, 42-3, in the Pac-10 opener
for both schools.
Masoli completed 21-of-25 passes and LaMichael James rushed for
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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