Teams gearing up for preseason testing at Daytona
Autoracing Betting Lines
01/11/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a short one-and-a-half-month break, Sprint Cup Series teams are back on track this week with a three-day preseason test session at Daytona International Speedway.
From Thursday to Saturday, teams will familiarize themselves with NASCAR's new rules package for the February 26 season-opening Daytona 500. A number of revisions have been made to the Sprint Cup cars for Daytona, including a smaller capacity in both the radiators and overflow tank.
In addition, the radiator inlet will be moved up closer into the front center bumper area. The springs on the cars will be softer and the rear spoiler smaller. The restrictor plate has been modified to 1/64 inch larger than the plate size used for the 2011 Daytona 500.
"This is an opportunity we are providing to the competitors to implement and test the new Daytona rules package for 2012," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said. "It's a chance for them to get comfortable with the cooling package, the smaller spoiler and to practice drafting for next month's Daytona 500."
NASCAR recently revised its restrictor-plate racing package after gathering data from test sessions at Talladega Superspeedway last October and then Daytona the following month. The sanctioning body is hoping to minimize and perhaps eliminate two-car tandems, which has become an unpopular style of racing at restrictor-plate tracks.
"This three-day test will allow the engine tuners for these teams to be able to work with their engine packages and see how they relate and react to the new cooling regulations," Pemberton added.
Due to the two-car pairings as well as a newly-paved surface at Daytona, last year's Daytona 500 featured a record 74 lead changes among 22 drivers. The 2011 spring race at Talladega produced a NASCAR-record tying 88 lead changes.
Teams will also have an opportunity to work on their preparations for the Daytona 500 as well as the Budweiser Shootout event and the twin qualifying races for the 500.
"With the rule changes especially with the grill opening, we have a lot of things we want to test and try to get prepared to win the Daytona 500," Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. said. "It's also important for me and [teammate] Clint [Bowyer] to get time together and draft. I believe we are going to have to switch a lot in the draft with the rule change, so we really need to be on the same page rather quickly and understand how each other thinks. It's a good time to get a feel for how he does things and the same for him as to how I do things."
Bowyer and Mark Martin have joined Michael Waltrip's team for the 2012 season. Both drivers will use this test session to help develop team chemistry.
"These tests aren't incredibly important from the car hardware side," Martin said. "It's more important for us as a new group working together to work through the areas like communication, flow, learning everyone's names, routines and things like that. That's really the critical part of the test."
Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports), Kurt Busch (Phoenix Racing), A.J. Allmendinger (Penske Racing), David Reutimann (Tommy Baldwin Racing) and Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports) are also those drivers with new rides this year.
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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.