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07/05/2010 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What a difference a year has made for Kevin Harvick.
One year ago, Harvick was far from making the championship Chase, as he sat 26th in points. Now, he's atop the standings with two wins so far this season under his belt, including an impressive victory in Saturday's 400-mile race at Daytona.
Harvick currently holds a 180-point lead over Jeff Gordon, and he's scored 13 top-10 finishes in 18 races this season.
How has he been able to turn things around? Give credit to team owner Richard Childress.
"Richard pulled the trigger on a lot of different things, whether it was reorganizing people or whether it was getting us the funds to build new cars," Harvick said. "He stepped out on a huge limb to spend the money to start over with basically four teams halfway through [last] year, and it's paying off now for us."
Signs of a turnaround for Harvick's team, as well as the teams of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer at Richard Childress Racing, began to materialize at the tail end of the 2009 season. And the momentum hasn't lost its steam.
Burton sits eighth in points, while Bowyer holds the 14th spot, just 49 points behind 12th-place Carl Edwards. With eight races remaining until the Chase, both drivers will scramble to qualify for the playoffs, which begin on September 19 at New Hampshire.
Barring any unforeseen incident, Harvick will make the Chase, but where he will be seeded depends on his number of wins during the 26-race regular season.
"That's all we have talked about for the last two or three weeks, what do we have to do to win more races before the Chase starts," he said.
Whatever it will take for them to win, Harvick and crew chief Gil Martin said they're willing to do it.
"Obviously we're in a fortunate position to be where we are right now in the points lead," Martin said. "As far as rolling the dice, we're going to try to do that as much as possible, because we need to get to victory lane as much as we can, because basically that's what Richard pays us to do.
"We've got to get there, but at the same token, we've got to get there smart and make sure that we're not only consistent but we have some speed. Luckily, we're going to be able to take some chances possibly that we haven't been able to take in the past."
The driver with the most wins after the September 11 race at Richmond will enter the Chase as the first seed. Each of the 12 drivers who make the playoffs -- the final 10 races of the season -- will have their point totals adjusted to 5,000, plus 10 bonus points tacked on for each one of his wins this season. Right now, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have the most victories this season with five each.
Harvick's victories this season have come at restrictor plate tracks. He snapped a 115-race winless streak in April at Talladega. This past weekend, Harvick survived a rash of accidents, including "the big one" that involved 19 drivers, and then held off Kasey Kahne and Gordon in a two-lap overtime finish to win at Daytona.
"Kevin is becoming one of these guys who wins the restrictor plate races," Childress said. "He's kind of like Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. You knew he was going to be a factor in it."
Harvick easily could have begun the 2010 season with wins in the first two races -- Daytona and California. He held the lead for the final restart in the Daytona 500, but eventual race winner Jamie McMurray got a bump from Greg Biffle to move in front with less than two laps to go. Then at California, Harvick lost a spirited battle with Johnson for the win after brushing the wall in the final laps.
In May, Harvick signed a multi-year contract extension with RCR. Harvick had considered leaving RCR after finishing a disappointing 19th in points in '09. His contract with RCR was set to expire at the end of this year, and he was considered the top free agent for next season.
Harvick has driven the No.29 car for RCR in Cup since replacing Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt's fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.
With the contract distraction out of the way, Harvick and Childress are focused on winning the championship. But they'll have to figure a way to dethrone Johnson, who is the four-time defending series title-holder.
"To race with [Johnson's team] every week and to get to the level to where they've been, they're not looking for home runs every week, they're looking to refine their product every week," Harvick said. "I think that's what we've done a really good job throughout the whole company this year is we've taken a product, refined it, and by the time we get to the Chase, hopefully it will be."
Hamlin has been considered Johnson's biggest threat for the championship since the start of this year. But with the season now at its midpoint, it's time to add Harvick into the category of favorites to win the title.
<< Buchholz headed to the DL with hamstring strain
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz is
headed to the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring.
The move is retroactive to June 27, the day after he suffered the injury while
running th
<< Hamburg snaps up goalkeeper Drobny
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg have completed the signing of
goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny after his contract with Hertha Berlin expired.
The Czech Republic international joins the Nordbank Arena-based outfit on a
three-yea
<< Almeria clinches Jakobsen signing
Almeria, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Almeria have completed the signing of
Aalborg defender Michael Jakobsen on a long-term deal.
Jakobsen, a Denmark international, missed out on a call-up to this summer's
World Cup, but is ready to
<< Blue Jackets name Boughner assistant coach
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets named Bob Boughner
an assistant coach on Monday.
Boughner had spent the previous four seasons as president and head coach of
Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League where he compi
Martino finished as Paraguay manager >>
Asuncion, Paraguay (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerardo Martino said on Monday that he
is leaving his post as manager of Paraguay after his team lost 1-0 to Spain in
the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
Martino announced that his
Saborio earns another MLS Player of the Week award >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio was
voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 14 of the 2010 MLS
season on Monday.
Saborio tallied two goals in Salt Lake's 5-0 win over the
South Florida extends hoops coach Heath >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of South Florida has extended the
contract of men's basketball coach Stan Heath through the 2014-15 season.
Heath has guided the Bulls to a record of 41-51 in three seasons, which
included
Cubs recall P Berg, option Stevens >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs called up right-hander Justin
Berg from Triple-A Iowa and sent right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens to the same
club on Monday.
Berg, 26, made the Cubs opening day roster out of spring training
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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