Can Stenhouse build on his points lead at Kansas?

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/05/2011 - Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, October 8. Race: Kansas Lottery 300. Site: Kansas Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 3:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2010 Winner: Joey Logano. Television: ESPN 2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.

Following his fifth-place finish last Saturday at Dover, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is in command in the Nationwide Series championship points battle. Stenhouse holds a 22-point lead over Elliott Sadler with just five races to go.

The series now heads to Kansas Speedway, a track that became a turning point for Stenhouse during his rookie season last year. Stenhouse struggled for a majority of the season but a sixth-place finish at Kansas began his surge towards the rookie-of-the-year title.

Stenhouse has been atop the point standings since the July race in Indianapolis. Sadler moved to within five points of Stenhouse after the August event at Bristol, but the Roush Fenway Racing driver has put a distance between himself and Sadler since then.

"I'm really looking forward to Kansas," said Stenhouse, who turned 24 years old on October 2. "We got to do the Goodyear tire test there earlier this year, which will hopefully benefit us. Last year, that was one of the good races we really had heading down the homestretch."

While Stenhouse is contending for the driver's title, Roush Fenway's No.60 team is in a tight battle with Joe Gibbs Racing's No.18 team for the owner's championship. Carl Edwards won at Dover and moved the No.60 to within 13 points of the No.18.

Edwards, from nearby Columbia, MO, has 36 career Nationwide wins but has yet to score a victory at Kansas. He did win a Truck Series race at his home track in 2004.

"[Kansas] is not far from my hometown, and I will have several of my family and friends there," Edwards said. "It's a track I really want to win at. Our team has been on a roll, and we are coming off a strong win at Dover. I love the mile and a half speedways."

Edwards is scheduled to compete in each of the last five races. Kyle Busch has run 19 races in the No.18 car but is not entered in this event. Busch is slated for three more events this season -- Charlotte, Texas and Homestead.

Joey Logano, who has won the last two Nationwide races at Kansas, is back in the No.18 this week.

Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Brian Vickers, Edwards and Logano are those Sprint Cup Series regulars competing in this race.

Earlier this week, Turner Motorsports announced that Vickers is replacing Reed Sorenson in the No.32 car for Kansas and Charlotte. Sorenson, who is presently third in Nationwide points (-27), has been released by the team.

"We are continuing to evaluate our racing program as we look to the 2012 season," team owner Steve Turner said in a statement. "Brian Vickers is a proven winner at NASCAR's highest level, in addition to being a driver at Turner Motorsports over the last four seasons. He has worked with [crew chief] Trent Owens in the past, which will allow us to immediately focus on the task at hand."

Turner Motorsports will announce its driver for Texas, Phoenix and Homestead at a later date.

Fifty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kansas Lottery 300.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. 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

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