Let the race to the Sprint Cup Chase begin

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June 27. Race: Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Track: 1.058-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 301. Miles: 318.458. 2009 winner: Joey Logano. Television: TNT. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

So much for his so-called season slump. Jimmie Johnson's recent downslide came to an end last Sunday at the Infineon Raceway road course in Northern California. The four-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion finally notched his first road course win in 17 attempts.

Johnson began the season by winning three of the first five races, but within the past two months, he had fallen as far back as seventh in points after finishing 31st at Talladega, 36th at Darlington and 37th at Charlotte. Since Charlotte, Johnson has finished no worse than sixth, including a win at Sonoma, which has moved him up to second in the standings.

Denny Hamlin leads the series with five victories so far, while Johnson is next in line with four.

"At the beginning of the year, we were clicking them off," Johnson said. "Right now, Denny has been clicking them off. All that said, it's a long time until September."

The driver with the most wins after the September 11 race at Richmond will enter the championship Chase in the first seed. All 12 drivers who qualify for the playoffs -- the last 10 events of the season -- will have their point totals adjusted to 5,000. Each driver will then have 10 bonus points added for every race he won during the 26-event regular season.

This weekend's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire kicks off the "Race to the Chase," a 10-race stretch that precedes the Sprint Cup playoffs. So the scramble is on for many drivers to the secure a top-12 spot before the series returns to New Hampshire for the first Chase race on September 19.

Carl Edwards currently holds the coveted 12th position, but NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. lurks behind in the 13th spot, as he trails Edwards by 57 points. Earnhardt Jr. has finished seventh and 11th in the last two races.

Edwards dropped two positions in points after a 29th-place run at Sonoma.

"We're trying to just lock ourselves into the Chase," Edwards said. "If we were farther up in points, we wouldn't be thinking about that, but the farther back you are, the more you think about it, and the earlier you think about it."

Heading into New Hampshire, 240 points separate ninth-place Greg Biffle from 20th-place Juan Pablo Montoya.

Biffle has performed well at the flat one-mile track in the past, with a victory here in September 2008. He finished ninth and 18th last year at New Hampshire.

"I think it's a good race track, and we're capable of finishing in the top-10 there or repeating our win from a few years ago," Biffle said. "That definitely could be in the cards."

Kevin Harvick enters New Hampshire with a 140-point lead over Johnson. Harvick has been consistent so far this season, recording 11 top-10 finishes in the first 16 races.

"We're fortunate to be where we are at in the points right now," Harvick said. "We're able to race hard every lap and really not have to worry about what's going on with the points."

Harvick is looking to improve at New Hampshire this time around. He finished 32nd and 34th here last year.

Joey Logano is the defending race winner. One year ago, Logano, in his rookie season, benefited from crew chief Greg Zipadelli's gutsy late-race pit strategy for his first Sprint Cup win in the rain-shortened race at New Hampshire.

Logano, who hails from Middletown, CT, overcame a one-lap deficit after cutting his left-rear tire in the late-stages of the race. He was the only driver who had yet to pit during the final round of green flag stops. Ryan Newman gave up the lead when he ran out of fuel and coasted into in the pits. That allowed Logano to take the top spot for the first time. He then conserved enough fuel before rain fell on the track.

NASCAR displayed the red flag 28 laps short of the 301-lap scheduled distance, with the race being called shortly after. Logano's first win came in his 20th start.

"It's a big deal for me to go back there," Logano said. "It's basically my home racetrack. I grew up a couple of hours away from there, well, about three hours...It was a cool place to get your first win."

Logano is currently 17th in points.

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

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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.


Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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