Chase battle moves on to Bristol

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/17/2010 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, August 21. Race: IRWIN Tools Night Race. Site: Bristol Motor Speedway. Track: .533-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 500. Miles: 266.5. 2009 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: ABC. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

When the Sprint Cup Series comes to Bristol in August, it's always an action- packed affair on a hot summer night. And Saturday's race should be no different, as time is running out for many drivers to qualify for the championship Chase, which begins next month at New Hampshire.

With three races remaining in the regular season, 173 points separate 12th- place Clint Bowyer from 19th-place Juan Pablo Montoya. The top-12 drivers in points after the September 11 race at Richmond will make the Chase.

After winning last Sunday at Michigan, Kevin Harvick, the current points leader, became the first driver to lock down a position in the playoffs.

"Obviously, it's nice to go into this week's race and not have to worry about a Chase spot - better than anything going into Richmond without having to worry about a Chase spot," Harvick said. "The next three weeks are going to be a lot of fun, to go to three racetracks we've won at before and run well this year, to try to get more bonus points and get prepared for the Chase."

Two more drivers -- Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin -- could secure a Chase position at Bristol. Despite starting 33rd, Hamlin finished second at Michigan and moved up three spots to third in the standings. He is now 327 points ahead of Bowyer.

"In order to win the Chase [this] year, we were going to have to qualify better," Hamlin said. "Right now, we are just struggling so bad with qualifying. It takes us the entire race to get to the front. That's going to be a tough road to travel if we're going to try to win the championship."

Hamlin and Johnson lead the series with five victories each so far. However, Johnson has not won since the last weekend in June at New Hampshire, and Hamlin hasn't driven into victory lane since two months ago at Michigan.

Johnson is 294 points ahead of Bowyer in the fifth spot. It's a slight possibility that Johnson could secure his Chase spot at Bristol, but the four- time defending series champion most likely will qualify for the playoffs on Labor Day weekend at Atlanta.

In March, Johnson won at Bristol for the first time in 17 starts here. He also claimed his 50th career Cup victory.

"We ran so well there in the spring," Johnson said. "Even last year, we had great spring and fall races. The night race has always been one of my favorites and look forward to being competitive, and hopefully go back to victory lane there."

The best battle in the "Race for the Chase" right now is between Bowyer and 13th-place Mark Martin. The two are in a tight battle for the final Chase eligible spot. They have swapped the 12th and 13th positions in the last two races.

At Michigan, Bowyer finished 13th, while Martin had a disappointing 28th-place run.

"We have three races to go to get it done and, and if we continue to have runs like this, we can race our way into the Chase," Bowyer said.

Martin, who finished second to champion and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson in last year's Chase, trails Bowyer by 35 points.

"I don't know what they are," Martin said of his chances making the 2010 Chase. "We'll keep digging. I don't know. Every race is a new race."

Ryan Newman, who presently holds the 14th spot, is 103 points behind Bowyer, while 15th-place Jamie McMurray trails by 105 points.

Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Reutimann are 16th through 18th in points, respectively. All three drivers will need strong performances at Bristol if they want to improve their chances of making the Chase. Montoya will have to do the same as well.

This will be the 100th Cup race at Bristol, with the first event running here on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith won the race, despite driving relief from Johnny Allen. The first night race at Bristol was held in August 1978. Darrell Waltrip holds the record for most wins at Bristol with 12, while Gordon and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers with five victories each here. Kurt's younger brother, Kyle, won both races at Bristol during the 2009 season. Kyle finished ninth here earlier this year.

"I look forward to going there always," Busch said. "We struggled there in the spring for some reason. All of [Joe Gibbs Racing] did. We all blew right-front tires out, and we all got into the fence, but we salvaged a decent day."

Kyle Busch, as well as Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler, will compete in all three of NASCAR's national touring series races at Bristol this week.

Fifty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the IRWIN Tools Night Race.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.