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10/26/2011 - Martinsville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Saturday, October 29. Race: Kroger 200. Site: Martinsville Speedway. Track: 0.526-mile oval. Start time: 2:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 105.2. 2010 winner: Ron Hornaday Jr. Television: Speed. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.
The battle for the Camping World Truck Series championship is turning out to be one of the best in the series'17-year history. With three races to go, 16 points separate leader Austin Dillon from fourth-place Ron Hornaday Jr.
James Buescher's finish of third compared to a seventh-place run for Dillon in last Saturday's race at Talladega allowed Buescher to move within three points of Dillon.
Johnny Sauter fell 14 points out of the lead after finishing 15th at Talladega.
Hornaday has been the hottest driver in the series lately, winning three of the last six races. He finished second at Talladega.
After finishing 24th in the August 24 race at Bristol, it looked as though Hornaday's chances of winning a record-extending fifth series title were over, as he trailed the leader by 68 points. But what a remarkable comeback he's made since then.
"This championship battle is really heating up, and with three races to go, it's important to drive smart and make good decisions," he said. "I've been in this hot seat before, and I really think this team can come together and pull off a victory."
Hornaday could very well continue his surge in the point standings this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, a track where he has finished no worse than fourth in the past three years. He won at this track for the first time one year ago.
Dillon's best finish in three races at Martinsville is seventh, which came in April.
Buescher has finished no better than 11th in four starts at this track. He finished 35th here earlier this season.
When the series competed at Martinsville in the spring, Sauter passed Kyle Busch with less than two laps remaining to win here for the first time. Sauter's victory came days before his wife, Cortney, gave birth to their second child. He also became the first non-Sprint Cup Series regular to win a NASCAR national touring race during the 2011 season.
"We don't have a choice but to win if we're going to pull off this championship," Sauter said. "We're going to do whatever it takes to win, within reason. I don't look out for anybody but us, especially now with just three to go."
Timothy Peters, who grew up 30 miles away from this track in Providence, NC, is currently fifth in points (-42). Peters' first truck win came at Martinsville in October 2009. His series debut came here as well, in April 2005.
Kevin Harvick and Virginia-native Denny Hamlin are those Sprint Cup regulars competing in this race.
Harvick is the only driver entered that has multiple truck victories at Martinsville. He won back-to-back spring races here from 2009-10. Harvick will drive the No.2 Chevrolet, while Hornaday will move back into the No.33 truck. Hornaday drove the No.2 at Kentucky, Las Vegas and Talladega.
Hamlin will be behind the wheel of Kyle Busch Motorsports' No.18 Toyota.
Forty-one teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kroger 200.
<< In the FCS Huddle: Oh, yes, Super Saturday has 57 other FCS games
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This just in ...
There are big games in the FCS this week besides the Super Saturday showdowns
of No. 1 Georgia Southern at No. 5 Appalachian State in the Southern
Conference and No. 2 Northern Iowa at No.
<< Senators send top pick Zibanejad back to Sweden
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray
announced Wednesday that 2011 first-round pick Mika Zibanejad is being
returned to Djurgarden, his team in the Swedish Elite League.
The sixth player ta
<< Del Potro lands in Vienna quarters
Vienna, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin
del Potro was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at Vienna's $790,000 Erste
Bank Open.
The second-seeded Argentine del Potro handled 2008 Vienna titlist P
<< This Week in Auto Racing October 29 - 30
Martinsville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Round seven in the Chase for the Sprint
Cup championship takes place this weekend on NASCAR's shortest track --
Martinsville Speedway. The Camping World Truck Series is also at Martinsville.
Formula
Texas Southern sets 2012 schedule at new stadium >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Southern football will begin play in the
new TSU/Dynamo Stadium in 2012 with at least six home games, the SWAC
university announced Wednesday.
The 22,000-seat stadium is scheduled to open in May. The Tige
Azarenka, Li post wins at WTA Championships >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and
French Open champion Li Na recorded round-robin wins Wednesday at the
prestigious season-ending $4.55 million WTA Championships.
Azarenka (1-0) made her first acti
Chargers put LB English on IR >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers placed linebacker
Larry English on injured reserve Wednesday.
The 2009 first-round pick suffered a left foot injury Sunday against the New
York Jets. He recorded seven tackles an
MLB postpones Game 6 of World Series >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has decided to postpone
Game 6 of the World Series between the Cardinals and Rangers because of
inclement weather in St. Louis.
With a forecast calling for rain, the game has be
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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