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08/11/2010 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, August 15. Race: CARFAX 400. Site: Michigan International Speedway. Track: two-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 400. 2009 winner: Brian Vickers. Television: ESPN. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
With four races remaining before the Chase begins, tension is building among several drivers who hope to secure a spot in the playoffs. Just 205 points separate 12th-place Mark Martin from 19th-place Juan Pablo Montoya, who won his second career Sprint Cup race last weekend at Watkins Glen International.
Montoya made the Chase for the first time last year, finishing eighth in points. He is a long-shot in making the playoffs for the second year in a row, but anything can happen between this weekend's race at Michigan and next month's regular-season finale at Richmond.
"I think it's been for a while realistic that to make it you need a miracle," Montoya said. "Win one week, lose another. I made a lot of mistakes this year. I hurt the team a lot from that point."
Montoya snapped a 113-race winless streak in NASCAR's top-tier series at Watkins Glen. His first win came in June 2007 at the road course in Sonoma, CA. Montoya's win at Watkins Glen allowed him to gain two position in the standings.
"I think last year we didn't have the pace we have this year, and we made the Chase pretty easy, I thought," Montoya added. "This year, we had two cars capable, easily making the Chase, and both cars are out. That's what it is, I guess."
The closest battle in the "Race to the Chase" right now is between Martin and 13th-place Clint Bowyer.
After finishing 32nd at Watkins Glen, Bowyer dropped out of the top-12, as he trails Martin by a slim 10 points. Martin moved up one spot in the standings after his 19th-place run.
"This team is improving every week, and we just have to keep that going in Michigan," Martin said. "It's a good feeling to be back in there (top-12), but it's not at all a relief. We have four races to go. Anything can happen."
Martin won at Michigan in June 2009.
Bowyer's Richard Childress Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton are first and third in points, respectively. Harvick could become the first driver to clinch a spot in the Chase this year, as he currently is 569 points ahead of Martin.
Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Montoya are those drivers who made last year's Chase, but presently sit outside of the top-12. Newman is 83 points behind Martin in the 14th spot.
"It's still a great race for that 12th spot," Newman said. "I think it's easy to see that with all the shifting in the points each week. While we would much rather be inside the top-12 already, we've put ourselves in a good position to make the Chase, thanks to a lot of hard work by everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing."
Jamie McMurray, winner of the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 this year, is 94 points in back of the 12th position. McMurray jumped from 17th to 15th after an impressive sixth-place run at Watkins Glen.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat in 11th place after last month's race at Daytona, but has fallen to 16th with finishes of 23rd of worse in the last four races. Earnhardt Jr.'s last win in the series came in June 2008 at Michigan (79 races ago).
Could Sunday be the day Earnhardt Jr. finally snaps his winless streak?
"[Crew chief] Lance [McGrew] and the guys unloaded a great car last time at Michigan," said Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh at Michigan two months ago. "We've had some good runs with this car. I enjoy going to Michigan because it's so wide. It has a lot of different grooves, and we can move around and find places to run on the track. We like coming here because it's in the backyard of the manufacturers. Hopefully, we'll get a win for Chevrolet."
Kasey Kahne heads to Michigan 133 points behind Martin, while David Reutimann trails by 166 markers.
Earlier this week, Red Bull Racing announced that Kahne will drive one of their Sprint Cup cars next year. Kahne will then move over to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 to drive Martin's No.5 car.
Up until the 2009 season, Roush Fenway Racing had been dominant at Michigan, winning a Cup race there for seven consecutive years. Team owner Jack Roush, who resides 60 miles away from the two-mile track in Northville, MI, recorded his 11th victory there with driver Carl Edwards in August 2008. Roush moved into a tie with the Wood Brothers for most car owner wins at the track.
Roush remains at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN after suffering facial injuries during a plane crash two weeks ago in Oshkosh, WI. His condition was upgraded to fair last week, but his release date from the hospital remains undetermined.
Last week at Pocono, Greg Biffle gave Roush and manufacturer Ford its first Cup victory of the 2010 season. Biffle presently occupies the 11th position, but holds a comfortable 112-point advantage over Martin.
"We know we are in the fight of our life to get in the Chase right now," Biffle said. "We have Michigan, Atlanta and Bristol all coming up, and those are some great racetracks for us that are right down our alley."
Biffle won back-to-back races at Michigan from August 2004 to June 2005.
Forty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the CARFAX 400.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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