Taking the Chase to the "Lone Star State"
Autoracing Betting Lines
11/02/2011 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, November 6. Race: AAA Texas 500. Site: Texas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 3:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 334. Miles: 501. 2010 Winner: Denny Hamlin. Television: ESPN. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.
With seven races down and three to go in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, it's looking like it will be a two-man battle for the championship in NASCAR's premier series.
Tony Stewart's win coupled with a ninth-place finish for Carl Edwards last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway allowed Stewart to trim Edwards' points lead to just eight.
Stewart has hyped up the title fight by telling Edwards "he better be worried" and "he is not going to have an easy three weeks."
Edwards response? "We'll see what happens at Texas."
It's no holds barred between the two, and Texas Motor Speedway, the site of the next Chase race this Sunday, is loving every minute of it.
Texas has been an up and down track for Edwards. Even though Edwards leads all drivers with three wins at this track, his average finish here is 16.5.
"You never know how you're going to run, but I feel good going there," Edwards said. "I love that place. I love everything about Texas, from [track president] Eddie Gossage, down to the fans, the way they make everything such a big event."
Edwards finished 39th in the 2009 fall race at Texas. He then placed 19th and 33rd in the two races at this track last year before improving his performance here with a third-place run in April.
Stewart's average finish at Texas is 13.2. He won the fall race here in 2006.
After winning the first two Chase races -- Chicagoland and New Hampshire -- Stewart lost his momentum in the playoffs by finishing 25th at Dover and then 15th at Kansas. He had dropped to seventh in the point standings. But Stewart has bounced back nicely since then, scoring three straight top-10 finishes, including the win at Martinsville.
"I don't know anybody that doesn't enjoy being in the middle of it with three weeks to go; it's a great feeling," Stewart said. "To be in a position that we're in right now, sitting here knowing that we're right in the middle of this thing with three weeks to go, it is obviously a great feeling and great position to be in. We just got to go out and keep doing what we're doing here."
Edwards has finished no worse than 11th in this year's Chase so far.
"I feel like we made it through the first seven races of the Chase better than we expected," he said. "Now we just go to these last three races and go for broke."
None of the 12 drivers in the Chase field have been mathematically eliminated from the championship yet. Heading into Texas, 89 points separate Edwards from 12th-place Ryan Newman.
Kevin Harvick is currently 21 points out of the lead, while Brad Keselowski trails by 27 markers.
Matt Kenseth is hoping to rebound in the Chase after a disappointing finish at Martinsville. Kenseth entered the Martinsville race 14 points behind Edwards, but after his 31st-place run there, he has fallen 36 points in back of his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.
Kenseth has performed well at Texas lately. He finished second here one year ago and then followed up with a win in this year's spring race.
"I probably have more confidence going into Texas because, historically, it's been one of our best tracks," he said. "Past success doesn't guarantee anything for future success, but we certainly perform well there."
Jimmie Johnson is now 43 points behind Edwards, as his hopes of a record- extending sixth straight series championship are fading away.
"The window is getting smaller and smaller as the weeks go by, so I'm going out for maximum points, trying to win races and get trophies," Johnson said. "It's out of my control where things are at this point. It's up to other guys to have major mistakes in these next three events to let us back in."
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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.