Nationwide Series heads to Iowa

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, July 31. Race: U.S. Cellular 250. Site: Iowa Speedway. Track: 0.875-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 250. Miles: 218.75. 2009 winner: Brad Keselowski. Television: ESPN 2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

While the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series run at Pocono Raceway, the Nationwide Series competes at Iowa Speedway. It's the second time NASCAR's second-tier series races at the 0.875-mile oval.

Eight drivers -- Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek and Reed Sorenson -- will do the Pocono/Iowa combo this weekend.

Keselowski currently holds a 205-point lead over Edwards.

Last Saturday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Edwards' 2nd-place finish compared to an eight-place run for Keselowski allowed Edwards to trim 23 points from Keselowski's lead.

"We had a great race last week at O'Reilly Raceway Park and made up some ground in the championship run; we need to build on that at Iowa," Edwards said.

Keselowski is the defending race winner at Iowa.

When the series competed at Iowa for the first time one year ago, Keselowski and his then crew chief, Tony Eury Sr., gambled on old tires. Keselowski remained on the track, while most of the leaders pitted during a late-race caution. He managed to pass Kyle Busch for the lead with nine laps to go and then held off Busch for the win.

In addition to his race winnings, Keselowski collected a $75,000 bonus from series title sponsor Nationwide Insurance for scoring the victory in the third "Dash 4 Cash" event on the 2009 schedule. Full-time series regulars and part- time/limited series-only regulars are those eligible for the insurance company's bonus program. No driver earned the prize money at Nashville and Kentucky earlier in the season.

In April, Harvick, who was then a full-time Nationwide competitor, won $25,000 in the first "Dash 4 Cash" race of the year at Nashville. Joey Logano wasn't eligible for the bonus when he won in June at Kentucky, so the bonus has rolled over to $50,000 for Iowa. Harvick and Busch will not eligible at Iowa, as they will try to spoil the reward for the regulars.

"I'm pretty excited about going back to Iowa Speedway for the Nationwide Series race," Harvick said. "Last year, we didn't have the finish we wanted due to a parts failure, but I'm ready to go back and show what we can really do at Iowa."

Forty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the U.S. Cellular 250.

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Betting

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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