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07/12/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Look out NASCAR, there's a promising young gun on the horizon.
Austin Dillon is looking more and more like the next big up-and-comer in the sport after winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in dominating fashion on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. His first win came in just his 12th truck start. Dillon also set a record at Iowa by becoming the first rookie in the series to win three consecutive poles.
At age 20 years, two months and 37 days, Dillon became the second-youngest race winner in the 16-year history of the series, behind Kyle Busch, who won at Charlotte in 2005 when he was 20 years and 18 days old.
After leading 187 of 205 laps and holding off NASCAR veteran Johnny Sauter in a two-lap overtime finish, Dillon drove the famed black No.3 in victory lane at Iowa, which was a delight to many race fans around the world.
"It's pretty awesome," Dillon said. "I've wanted to do it for the fans too. I know they want to see it out front, and that's the only way people really want to appreciate it if it's run well, I think. I've put enough pressure on myself to go out and do the best I can every time I get in that truck, and this just proves that we can do it. I'm glad it's the No.3. It's my favorite number to run, and hopefully I can run it for a long time."
Not since the days of Dale Earnhardt have we seen a black-colored vehicle with the No.3 on it win a race in any one of NASCAR's top-three series. Earnhardt made the 3 one of the most popular icons in NASCAR while driving for team owner Richard Childress from the early 1980's until his untimely death during the 2001 Daytona 500.
Dillon is Childress' grandson.
Earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, driving the iconic Wrangler blue and yellow paint scheme No.3 Chevrolet. Earnhardt Jr. had a one-race deal with Richard Childress Racing to drive the car in honor of his late-father's recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
"It's just one of these great days, and to be back in [victory lane] with the 3 last week was special with Dale Jr., but [Sunday] was really special," Childress said after Dillon's win at Iowa.
Childress made the trip to the 0.875-mile track, located roughly 35 miles east of Des Moines, IA, following Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.
Currently sitting in the seventh spot in the truck standings, Dillon is far from being counted out of the championship. He trails leader Todd Bodine by 267 points. Dillon is almost certain to receive rookie of the year honors in the series this year, and will take the next career step by graduating to either the Nationwide or Sprint Cup Series in 2011.
"We've kind of sat down and planned out next year," Dillon said. "I'm planning on running the Truck Series again next year, running for a championship again, which I'm really excited for. I think that's the way we need to approach it, is try and get more experience.
"We did win the race [Sunday]. I know everybody wants to move up quick. I feel we're at a point right now where we can take our time. My grandfather is the same way. We don't want to rush things, move up too fast. Just puts you in a bad situation. That's the plan for so far, is to run the Truck Series."
After brief stints in trucks, several drivers, including Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards, quickly elevated to Cup, and did so with a great success.
Busch recorded four victories during his sophomore Cup season, and then went on to win the inaugural championship Chase in 2004. Edwards won four races and finished third in points during his first full season in NASCAR's top-tier series in 2005.
Dillon made his first two truck starts in 2009, with his debut coming last September at Iowa. He originally qualified for the October race at Talladega, but had his time disallowed after his truck did not meet the minimum height requirement during post-qualifying inspection.
He has also made seven Nationwide starts so far, the recent coming last month at New Hampshire, where he drove the No.21 RCR Chevrolet to a 25th-place finish.
Since the start of the season, Dillon has continued to show improvement, finishing no worse than fifth in the last three truck races. Don't be surprised to see him in victory lane again before the end of this year, and rest assured that he's on his way to becoming one of the next big stars in NASCAR.
<< Magic agree to deal with Richardson
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Magic have agreed in principle to a multi-
year contract with free agent swingman Quentin Richardson, according to the
Orlando Sentinel.
Richardson, 30, averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 76 game
<< Lazio keen to keep Kolarov
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio president Claudio Lotito has insisted
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The 24-year-old Serbia international is a reported target for
<< Doyle happy with Wolves stay
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton Wanderers' star
striker Kevin Doyle has again moved to play down speculation linking him with
a move away from Molineux this summer.
The 26-year-old Republic of Ireland frontman
<< Schweinsteiger plays down exit talk
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich and Germany midfield ace
Bastian Schweinsteiger has admitted that he would like to try his luck abroad
at some point in the future, but has played down talk of an imminent transfer.
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Heat send Beasley to Minnesota for picks >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat made it official on Monday by
shipping the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Michael Beasley, to
the Minnesota Timberwolves for a pair of second round draft picks.
The Timberwolve
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Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udonis Haslem has opted to stay in Miami, and the
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Denver Nugget
Beltre expects to play in All-Star Game >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre
told the team's website on Monday he is confident he will take part in
Tuesday's All-Star Game. The news came just hours after American League
manager
Ernst leads Publinx after first stroke-play round >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Ernst fired a six-under 65 Monday to
take a one-stroke lead after the first round of stroke play at the U.S.
Amateur Public Links.
Ernst's round included nine birdies, six of which came in a
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.
Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.
That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.
Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.
After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.
The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).
To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.
NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV
New England Patriots 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New York Giants 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Indianapolis Colts 12/1
San Diego Chargers 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Tennessee Titans 16/1
Carolina Panthers 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
New Orleans Saints 20/1
Atlanta Falcons 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
Green Bay Packers 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
New York Jets 25/1
Arizona Cardinals 30/1
Chicago BearS 30/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1
Buffalo Bills 35/1
Houston TexaNS 35/1
Miami Dolphins 35/1
Washington Redskins 35/1
Seattle SeahawkS 50/1
Cleveland Browns 55/1
Cincinnati Bengals 60/1
San Francisco 49ers 60/1
Oakland Raiders 75/1
St. Louis Rams 75/1
Detroit Lions 100/1
Kansas City Chiefs 100/1
Odds as of: 2/2/09
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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