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08/21/2007 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After two days of rain delays, Kurt Busch captured Tuesday's 3M Performance 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.2 Penske Racing Dodge crossed the finish line 0.496 seconds ahead of Martin Truex Jr.
The victory was Busch's second of the season and 17th of his Nextel Cup career.
"It feels great to do it in the backyard of the manufacturers," said Busch. "We made some adjustments...Pat Tryson (crew chief), he's awesome. Thanks to everybody that's part of this race team."
The race began under yellow caution flag conditions because although the rain had stopped there was fog around the track. By lap 10 the race was red-flagged because the fog was so thick that the spotters couldn't see the track. Finally, on lap 13 the green flag dropped and the real racing began.
Greg Biffle went right around the outside of Jeff Gordon for the lead on the first green-flag lap and led through the first round of pit stops. Biffle's Roush Fenway Racing teammates were also on the move and both Carl Edwards (started 13th) and Matt Kenseth (started 21st) were inside the top-10.
On the stop, Gordon took only two tires to come out first, while Biffle came out third, behind Denny Hamlin as well.
The two-tire experiment seemed to work for the No.24 Chevy as he built a lead of more than one second by lap 40. However, as the green-flag run lengthened, Gordon began to fade back into the clutches of the field, now led by Jimmie Johnson. Johnson caught and passed Gordon on lap 49. A couple of laps later Kenseth and Brian Vickers also passed Gordon, so while the two-tire experiment worked for a time, it had only limited value.
Gordon continued to fall off, dropping seven seconds off the pace as the field neared the 60-lap mark. Johnson, Kenseth and Vickers were putting up fast laps and were more than three seconds ahead of fourth-place Busch and Edwards.
The three leaders exchanged the lead over the next few laps and their side-by- side "dogfight" allowed Busch to join the fray.
A round of green-flag pit stops began around lap 69 with Gordon one of the first to stop. This time he got four tires and fuel and away he went. When the stops were completed, Kenseth owned a two-second margin on Busch and Gordon was stuck back in 11th place.
Busch was trying to keep up with Kenseth, cutting the gap to 1.5 seconds, but he couldn't close up any further. The man on the move as they approached lap 90 was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started last after a transmission problem, but cracked the top-10.
At the mid-point, it was still Kenseth and Busch at the top of the scoring pylon, but Gordon had rebounded to fifth with the help of a very quick pit stop. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet continued to march towards the leader, taking third place on lap 106.
Meanwhile, Busch got side-by-side with Kenseth as the No.2 Dodge stuck to the bottom of the track and grabbed the lead from Kenseth.
With clean air, Busch set a torrid pace and Kenseth couldn't keep up. By lap 125, Busch held a 2.657 second lead on Gordon, who had gotten underneath Kenseth for second.
Another round of green-flag pit stops and it was still Busch and Gordon showing the way. Busch's lead was 3.309 seconds with 60 laps remaining and still expanding. The margin was 5.431 seconds with just 35 laps to go.
Busch was in complete control, but there was still one more pit stop remaining. The leaders began to stop - first Vickers, then Kenseth. Gordon stopped with 34 to go and Busch shortly thereafter. Earnhardt Jr. overshot his pit and it cost him a number of positions, something he couldn't afford in his race for the "Chase."
With 25 laps to go, Busch's lead was 4.566 seconds on Johnson as Gordon fell to seventh after an extra long pit stop. But a debris caution flag set up a short shootout to the checkered flag.
The green flag dropped with 20 laps to go and Busch leading Gordon, Dave Blaney, Truex Jr. and Biffle. Hamlin and Johnson led a group that chose to get new rubber and they restarted sixth and seventh, respectively.
Busch got the jump on Gordon right at the start, while Truex Jr. beat Blaney for third. Fifteen laps to go and Busch's lead was 1.957 seconds over Truex Jr.. Hamlin and Johnson were also flying using their new tires to take third and fourth.
Busch still held more than one second as the laps dwindled to just 10. Then another caution flag as Kenseth got into the back of Gordon in turn four sending the No.24 spinning across the grass.
The race would restart with seven laps. Again Busch got a great jump. Johnson also got off well and he went down the backstretch side-by-side with Truex Jr. Truex Jr. fought him off and then took aim at Busch, who was a half second ahead of him.
A Biffle spin with two laps to go set up a green-white-checker finish. One more great start by Busch did it and he took his second win of the season. Busch led a race-high 92 laps.
Johnson, Kenseth and Hamlin completed the top-five.
In the "race-with-the-race" for the 12th and final playoff position, Busch holds a 163-point lead on Earnhardt Jr. and 171 on teammate Ryan Newman.
The next race is scheduled for Saturday night, August 25th at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
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Teen sensation Altidore earns MLS honor >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York forward Jozy Altidore was named Major
League Soccer's Player of the Week on Tuesday for his two-goal performance in
an epic 5-4 win over Los Angeles on Saturday.
The 17-year-old Altidore scored two
Bengals head coach to go under knife >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis
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SEC - Can Florida repeat? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What does the SEC have to do for an
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Vancouver signs Linden >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks signed veteran forward
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Linden tallied 12 goals and 13 assists in 80 games last season wit
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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