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06/30/2010 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, July 3. Race: Coke Zero 400. Site: Daytona International Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 160. Miles: 400. 2009 winner: Tony Stewart. Television: TNT. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
The next chapter in NASCAR's "boys, have at it" takes place this Fourth of July weekend when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway for its "mid-summer classic."
This year's 400-mile race at Daytona could very well be a classic...or perhaps a demolition derby.
With what we've seen in previous Sprint Cup races this season, particularly last week at Sonoma, CA, emotions are running high due to the level of aggression on the track.
At this time of the year, it certainly is hot and humid in Central Florida, so don't be surprised if tempers flare in the garage or on pit road before DIS begins its big post-race fireworks show over Lake Lloyd.
"If you're going to take someone out or wrong someone on track, you've got to be ready for the same thing down the road and the points and what's going to come back to you," said Jimmie Johnson, who has won the last two races. "It's awfully exciting. There's plenty to write about and talk about right now."
This will be the third of four restrictor plate races this season. With the Sprint Cup car now running a spoiler and having a slightly different aerodynamic package than the car used for the Daytona 500 in February, and then factor in a larger restrictor plate hole size -- 1 1/32 inch -- Saturday night's race at Daytona should be a thriller.
"With the bigger plate and with the spoiler on the car, the cars are going to pull up faster than they did before, that's for sure," current points leader Kevin Harvick said. "We saw it was a lot faster at the Daytona 500, and now we have a bigger plate. It will be exciting, and you will see a lot of cars passing and moving and going and doing what they did at the Daytona 500, just a little faster."
Harvick's most recent win came in April at Talladega. He also won the pre- season Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
This race at Daytona also will be the last one before the entire 2.5-mile track surface will be repaved. Daytona last underwent a repaving in 1978.
Earlier this year, the Daytona 500 was marred by two sizeable potholes that emerged on the asphalt between turns one and two just past the half-way point in the race. NASCAR halted the Daytona 500 twice for a total of two and a half hours, as track personnel repaired the potholes.
Additional repairs were made to the damaged area of the track days after the Daytona 500.
"I wasn't real pleased at all to hear that the racetrack was going to have to be repaved, but the time has just taken its toll on the racetrack and some things you just have to do," Harvick said. "I don't think anybody would repave the racetrack if it just didn't absolutely have to be done.
"I feel pretty confident with everything that everybody said from the racetrack that the repairs are good and have tested the Nationwide car there, with the new patch in the corner. Couldn't even tell it was there."
Harvick was one of 26 drivers who participated in last month's two-day test session of the new Nationwide Series car, which makes its debut in Friday night's 250-mile race at Daytona.
With nine races remaining before the championship Chase begins September 19 at New Hampshire, the Chase bubble is tightening up. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is just three points behind 12th-place Carl Edwards. Ryan Newman is 15 points outside the top-12, and Clint Bowyer is only one marker behind Newman.
"There are a lot of guys fighting for that spot," Edwards said. "I think I can safely say that this is going be one of the toughest years to make that Chase that we've had."
Earnhardt Jr. has finished 11th or better in the last three races, while Edwards has finished no better than 12th since five races ago at Dover.
Jamie McMurray, currently 17th in points, has won two of the last three restrictor plate races. McMurray won at Talladega in November when he drove for Roush Fenway Racing. His Daytona 500 victory earlier this year came in his first race with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.
"It will be cool to get back to Daytona and just to see that track again," McMurray said. "Certainly leaving there after winning the 500, it is crazy what you are going through."
McMurray will try to become the first driver to win both races at Daytona in the same season since Bobby Allison accomplished the feat in 1982. McMurray won the July race at Daytona in 2007.
Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Coke Zero 400.
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Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday,
July 2. Race: Subway Jalapeno 250. Site: Daytona International Speedway.
Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 100. Miles: 250.
2009 winner: Den
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Arena
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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