Bodine leads Toyota charge in truck qualifying

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/05/2007 - Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Bodine captured the pole for Saturday afternoon's Mountain Dew 250 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Talladega Superspeedway. The No.30 Germain Toyota circled the giant 2.66-mile track in 52.670 seconds (181.811 m.p.h.) to lead a Toyota sweep of the front row and nine of the top-12 starting spots.

The pole victory was Bodine's second of the season and third of his truck career.

Starting with Bodine on the front row will be three-time series champion Jack Sprague, who posted a time of 52.720 seconds.

Erik Darnell (52.766) and Mike Wallace (52.980) will make up row two. Travis Kvapil was fifth quickest.

Try as he may, Kvapil can't quite make the Craftsman Truck Series championship a three-horse race.

The driver of the No.6 Roush Racing Ford has won four of the last 10 events, but still finds himself 181 points behind points leader Mike Skinner. After a slow start that yielded just one top-10 in the first six events, Kvapil turned it up a notch and has collected 11 top-10s since the end of May.

Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, Kvapil won the pole and then beat off every challenge en route to a 0.718-second win over Johnny Benson. Both Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. had rare off days and Kvapil clawed closer to the two leaders.

But with just six races left, Kvapil is running out of time.

On the other hand, the race is in Talladega and when NASCAR comes to this superspeedway anything can and usually does happen. The drivers could be running three-wide at the finish or as in 2006 there could be a multiple-truck incident in Turn 3 of the final lap allowing Mark Martin to win under caution.

"I like Talladega; it is a track where you have to be on your toes at all times," said Skinner, who finished second in 2006. "The key to this race is just try and stay out of trouble."

Easier said than done. Skinner will start in the middle of the "storm" - eighth.

Former Formula One World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve (1997), qualified 10th in his second NASCAR outing. He is also schedule to try and qualify for Sunday's Nextel Cup race.

The race is set to drop the green flag on Saturday at 4 p.m. (et).

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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