Stenhouse Jr. set to clinch Nationwide title at Homestead
Autoracing Betting Lines
11/16/2011 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, November 19. Race: Ford 300. Site: Homestead-Miami Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 4:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2010 Winner: Kyle Busch. Television: ESPN 2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.
After struggling during his rookie season last year, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is on the verge of clinching the 2011 Nationwide Series championship.
Stenhouse enters the Nationwide season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a very comfortable 41-point lead over Elliott Sadler. They are the only drivers who remain eligible for the title. If Stenhouse finishes 37th or better, he will win the championship, regardless of Sadler's performance.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Stenhouse should clinch the title in the early going of Saturday's 300-mile race when the "start and park" drivers head to the garage for the day.
"Homestead is one of my favorite places to go, so I am looking forward to it," Stenhouse said. "Last week, we were able to gain some points in the driver's championship, so we can be more aggressive this week. I am confident that we can get this No.6 Ford back in victory lane and hopefully leave Homestead as the NASCAR Nationwide champion.
Stenhouse has recorded two wins and 25 top-10 finishes in 33 Nationwide races this season. Both of his wins came at Iowa -- May 22 and August 6. He's had just two DNFs for the year, which came at Talladega and Montreal.
Last week at Phoenix, Stenhouse led a race-high 73 laps but gave up the top position when he spun his tires on a restart with 61 laps to go. That allowed Sam Hornish Jr. to drive past him for the lead, as Hornish went on to win his first Nationwide race. Stenhouse wound up finishing fifth.
Sadler's championship hopes essentially faded away when he was involved in a five-car accident and ended up finishing 27th at Phoenix. Jason Leffler bumped into the back of Sadler and spun him into the outside wall. He entered the penultimate race 17 points behind Stenhouse.
"Last weekend in Phoenix was disappointing for the entire team when we were involved in a late-race incident that took us out of contention in the race," Sadler said. "We're going to head to Homestead ready to give it everything that we have for the win."
While the driver's title looks pretty decisive, the battle for the owner's championship is as good as it gets entering the last race of the season. Only one point separates Joe Gibbs Racing's No.18 team from Roush Fenway Racing's No.60 team.
Carl Edwards is scheduled to drive the No.60, even though Edwards is in a very tight points race with Tony Stewart for the Sprint Cup Series championship.
Denny Hamlin is replacing Kyle Busch in the No.18 at Homestead.
Following Busch's incident with Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Camping World Truck Series race at Texas earlier this month, there had been speculation that sponsor Z-Line Designs asked JGR to replace Busch with Hamlin for Homestead. Team owner Joe Gibbs said last week at Phoenix that it was a team decision to put Hamlin in the Nationwide car while Busch focuses on his Sprint Cup efforts.
Busch has won the last two Nationwide races at Homestead.
Forty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Ford 300.
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Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.