Trucks make inaugural visit to Pocono
Autoracing Betting Lines
07/27/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Saturday, July 31. Race: Pocono Mountains 125. Site: Pocono Raceway. Track: 2.5-mile triangle. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 50. Miles: 125. Television: SPEED. Radio: Motor Racing Network(MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
The Camping World Truck Series will compete at Pocono Raceway for the first time this weekend. The series' inaugural stop at Pocono marks the final track currently hosting a Sprint Cup race at which trucks have yet to compete.
This will not be the first time the series competes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Truck teams used to run at the now defunct Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, PA from 1996-2001.
Saturday's race at the 2.5-mile Pocono track is scheduled to be 125 miles in length, which means it's a 50-lap shootout.
"I think adding Pocono is great for the series, and by making it a 50-lap race, you are sure to see a lot of action," said four-time and defending series champion Ron Hornaday. "I know that going down in to turn one, you better have a good spot, because we will probably be four or five wide."
Hornaday has previous experience at Pocono, with two Cup starts here during the 2001 season, when he drove the No.14 car for team owner A.J. Foyt.
Last Friday, Hornaday ended a 22-race winless streak at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Hornaday recorded his 46th career truck victory, but his first since August 1, 2009 at Nashville. He currently is fourth in points (-212).
Todd Bodine is the current leader, holding a 177-point advantage over Aric Almirola. Bodine is another driver who has previous experience at Pocono.
"I think you're going to see a heck of a race," Bodine said. "I know everybody is saying that. The way the trucks are and the drafting that's involved, the way Pocono is, long straightaways with a little bit slower corner, drafting is going to be very large, it's going to be critical.
"I think a lot of the veteran drivers like myself and [Mike] Skinner and Hornaday, guys that have competed there in the Cup Series, we're going to have a little advantage for a while. But I think that the guys in the Truck Series are good enough and the teams are good enough that they're going to catch up."
Three Sprint Cup regulars -- Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler -- also will compete in the truck race at Pocono.
Kahne is driving the No.18 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Busch will be in Iowa on Saturday for the Nationwide race there. Kahne is undefeated in two career truck starts. He won the last two races of the 2004 season -- Darlington and Homestead.
"Kyle and I had been talking about it for a while, and I told him I was interested in running a truck race or two for KBM this year," Kahne said. "He had another obligation with the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday, so he asked if I could race his truck. It's a great opportunity for me to come back to the series and compete with really good equipment. I've watched Kyle put the team together, and it's really been impressive how well they've done this year as a first-year team."
The format for truck qualifying at Pocono will be considerably different. The qualifying order is set by inverting the times from Friday's final practice session. Trucks are released in approximately 25-second increments, and drafting is prohibited.
Thirty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for Pocono Mountains 125.
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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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