Chase heads west to California

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/06/2009 - Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, October 11. Race: Pepsi 500. Site: Auto Club Speedway. Track: two-mile oval. Start Time: 3:15 p.m. (et). Laps: 250. Miles: 500. Defending Winner: Jimmie Johnson. Television: ABC. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

Last Sunday at Kansas, ten of the top-11 finishers were Chase drivers, as the points battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship tightened. Only 114 points separate leader Mark Martin from eighth-place Greg Biffle heading into the Pepsi 500 at California -- the fourth race in the playoffs.

"It shows how competitive the Chase is," said Kansas race winner Tony Stewart, who moved up to fourth in points (-67).

Stewart, in his first year as driver and owner, captured his fourth victory of the season. The two-time Cup Series champion finished 14th at New Hampshire and seventh at ninth at Dover before winning at Kansas.

In February, Stewart finished eighth at California in just his second race with his new Stewart-Haas Racing team.

"We were still just learning each other going into California in the spring," Stewart said. "So going around this time, we obviously know each other better. We've had time to make mistakes and make decisions that worked for me, and we've learned the feel that I like together, and that's something that will help us. I'm anticipating California a lot more this time than in the spring."

After finishing seventh at Kansas, Martin padded his lead to 18 points over Hendrick Motorsports teammate and three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth.

Johnson excels at the upcoming tracks on the schedule. The El Cajon, CA native returns to his hometrack this weekend as the winner of the last two fall races there. After California, the series runs at Charlotte and then Martinsville. Johnson has five victories at Charlotte and has won five of the last six races at Martinsville.

"They really are great tracks for us," Johnson said. "I think the season comes to us in a way. I know that we perform well in the Chase, but I think the schedule is helpful for the No.48 car. We have great results, and it gives us a lot of hope going into these tracks, but we still have to show up and get the job done."

Johnson has recorded five straight top-10 finishes at California. He dominated last year's fall race there, leading 228 of 250 laps.

Martin will compete in California's second date of the season for the first time since 2006. He has missed the event in the past two years due to his limited Cup schedule. Martin suffered engine failure and ended up with a 40th- place finish at California earlier this year.

Juan Pablo Montoya has been superb in the Chase so far. Montoya, in his first year in the playoffs, is the only driver who has scored top-five finishes in the first three Chase races. He's hoping his momentum will continue, but California has been one of his tougher tracks.

"I would rather have Atlanta to be honest," Montoya said. "I always run really well at Atlanta. At the same time we ran pretty good [at California] the last time we were there. It was very early in the season, and even then I think we had decent cars. Right now, we've got much more competitive cars."

Montoya is now third in points (-51). He has finished no better than 11th in his first five races at California. Montoya had a third-place run last month at Atlanta.

With California's second date of the season now moved to October , drivers and teams are expecting different track conditions, which should make for an interesting race.

"Conditions will be cooler," said Kurt Busch, who is currently fifth in points (-91). "The track most likely will be faster."

Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Pepsi 500.

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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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