Newman upsets Johnson for Lowe's pole

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/11/2007 - Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson was fastest in the final practice, but Ryan Newman was better in qualifying as he captured the pole for Saturday's Bank of America 500, the fifth race in the 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup." The No.12 Penske Dodge driver circled the 1.5-miles Lowe's Motor Speedway in 28.515 seconds (189.394 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Newman's fifth this season, seventh at Lowe's and 42nd of his Nextel Cup career.

"Jimmie put down a good lap, I was just happy to beat him," said Newman. "A great effort from the team, I hope we have a good race Saturday night."

Starting alongside Newman will be Johnson, who posted a time of 28.573 seconds.

Bobby Labonte (28.668) and Jeff Gordon (28.678) will make up row two.

"I'm excited again," said Gordon. "I wasn't expecting to put up a lap like that."

The remainder of the "Chase" field will start in the following order: Matt Kenseth (seventh), Kurt Busch (eighth), Denny Hamlin (11th), Kyle Busch (13th), Carl Edwards (18th), Kevin Harvick (24th), Clint Bowyer (25th), Jeff Burton (27th), Tony Stewart (29th) and Martin Truex Jr. (32nd).

For those who survived the mayhem of Dover and the Kansas Speedway and the "Big One" at Talladega with their championship hopes still in tact, it's on to Saturday's race and the fifth race of the "Chase."

Gordon leads the "Chase" just as he led the series for most of the season. Beginning in week five, Gordon was the points leader every week through race No.25. He has been either first or second in the standings for 28 of 30 weeks.

At Lowe's Gordon has a solid record. He owns four of his 80 career Nextel Cup wins on the Charlotte, NC track and 15 top-10s in 29 starts. That's a good record, but it pales next to the record of his teammate Johnson.

The No.48 Chevrolet driver has made 12 starts on the 1.5-mile oval named after his primary sponsor and has earned five wins and 11 top-10s. His average finish is an amazing 6.2. He swept the spring and fall events in both 2004 and 2005. Johnson is just nine points behind Gordon.

Bowyer has also survived the past wild weeks with his championship dreams still alive. Bowyer has been consistent all season long and in the four "Chase" races has continued that streak. His worst finish is a 12th at Dover and he collected the first win of his Nextel Cup career in the "Chase" opener at the New Hampshire International Speedway. Still, an 11th-place finish at Talladega left him 63 points behind the leader.

Two-time Nextel Cup champion Stewart is hanging on to his championship hopes by a thread. For Stewart, a 39th-place finish at Kansas may be the race that kills his title. He stands 154 points behind Gordon on the fringe of competitiveness.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. (et).

Myracetracks Autoracing Betting News

<< Creamer, Park share Samsung lead; Wie in last
Palm Desert, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer and Angela Park both shot five-under 67 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Samsung World Championship. World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa had a double-bogey at the 18th for a 68 an

<< MISL signs affiliation agreement with PASL
Westport, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major Indoor Soccer League agreed to a multi-year affiliation agreement on Thursday with the Premier Arena Soccer League, the largest amateur international indoor soccer league. MISL will use the

<< Defending champion KiXX re-sign D'Ambra, Pappas
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia KiXX of the Major Indoor Soccer League re-signed head coach and leading scorer Don D'Ambra and goalie Peter Pappas on Wednesday. D'Ambra and Pappas, the reigning MISL Goalkeeper of the

<< Between injuries and last-second losses, Bills have had little luck
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -Here's another indication of how bad the first five weeks of the season have gone for the Buffalo Bills.``I was playing that Madden on Xbox,'' tight end Robert Royal said, recalling the first time he fired up the ``Madden NF

<< Real Madrid earns 104-103 win over Raptors in Spain
MADRID, Spain (AP) -Louis Bullock and Charles Smith combined for 45 points to help Real Madrid rally for a 104-103 win over the Toronto Raptors in a preseason game on Thursday night.Former Michigan player Bullock hit four free throws in the final ni

Toledo and Gessino-Kraft lead WNB Golf Classic >>
Midland, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Esteban Toledo and Kevin Gessino-Kraft each fired rounds of eight-under-par 64 on Thursday to share the lead during the suspended first round of the WNB Golf Classic. Michael Letzig posted a seven-und

Campbell, Connolly, Miller spur Sabres over Thrashers >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Campbell and Tim Connolly had a goal and two assists each to lead the Buffalo Sabres past the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-0, at HSBC Arena. Derek Roy and Ales Kotalik each added a goal and a helper for Buff

Vokoun, Panthers blank Devils >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun used 29 saves to post his first shutout as a member of the Panthers and Olli Jokinen tallied on the power play, as Florida defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-0, at BankAtlantic Center. Rosti

Sundin becomes Leafs' all-time scorer in 8-1 rout of Isles >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Captain Mats Sundin became Toronto's all-time franchise leader in goals and points as the Maple Leafs crushed the New York Islanders, 8-1, at Air Canada Centre. Sundin was first credited with an assist

May, Gore shoot 63 to lead Frys.com Open >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bob May and Jason Gore both carded rounds of 63 on Thursday to tie for the lead after the first round of the Frys.com Open. May had a nine-under 63 on the par-72 TPC at Summerlin course, while Gore shot an e

Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.