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05/05/2010 - Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, May 7. Race: Royal Purple 200. Site: Darlington Raceway. Track: 1.366-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 147. Miles: 200.8. 2009 winner: Matt Kenseth. Television: ESPN2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
Brad Keselowski remained the points leader in the Nationwide Series after winning last Friday's race at Richmond. Earlier in the week, NASCAR docked a total of 50 points from Keselowski's lead after his car failed post-race inspection at Talladega, where he won his first race of the season
Keselowski enters this week's race at Darlington with a 59-point advantage over Kevin Harvick and 84 markers ahead of 2009 series champion Kyle Busch.
Penske Racing is making a strong statement in the early season as the team to beat in this year's Nationwide title race. Keselowski, in his first year with Penske, has won the last two races, while teammate Justin Allgaier recorded his first career victory in March at Bristol.
"These last two weeks have been pretty amazing," Keselowski said. "I knew when I made the move to Penske Racing last year that the potential was there for us to contend for wins and championships in the Nationwide Series, but I figured it would take a few more races for everyone to gel."
Allgaier is currently fourth in points (-180).
Keselowski will attempt to become the first driver in the series to win three consecutive races since Busch last did it in April 2008. Busch won at Texas, Phoenix and Mexico City before Tony Stewart ended his streak at Talladega. Keselowski has finished 11th, 15th and 36th in his first three races at Darlington.
Roush Fenway Racing has been the dominate team at Darlington, with team owner Jack Roush collecting 15 Nationwide wins there so far.
Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth have won for Roush at Darlington. Kenseth is the defending race winner.
"Darlington is a great race track, known for its history and unique layout," Kenseth said. "It's very fast and narrow, and the biggest challenge is getting around there as fast as possible without hitting the wall. Since they paved it a few years ago, it's a pretty difficult place to race. You need a really fast car, and you got to have the track position at the end of the race.
"We were fortunate enough to win last year's Nationwide Series race, and I'd like to get another good finish for this [team] Friday night in order to help them improve their position in the point standings."
For the second week in a row, Kenseth will drive the No.16 Ford in place of rookie Colin Braun, who has posted five DNFs already this season. Kenseth will have to qualify the car on time, since Roush's No.16 team is 31st in owner points.
Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Royal Purple 200.
<< Hofstra names Cassara new hoops coach
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hofstra University named Mo Cassara head
coach of the men's basketball team on Wednesday, just two days after Tim Welsh
resigned following his DWI arrest.
Cassara spent the last four years as an assista
<< Spurs lock up Champions League place
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Crouch scored eight minutes from
time to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday that
clinches a spot in the Champions League for Harry Redknapp's men.
Both sides create
<< This Week in Auto Racing May 2 - 7
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series
teams spend this Mother's Day weekend at Darlington Raceway, while Formula One
competes in Europe for the first time this season with the Spanish Grand Prix
in Barc
<< AP Source: Hornets interview Fratello
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -A person familiar with the meeting says the New Orleans Hornets have interviewed Mike Fratello, the third candidate to meet with the club about its vacant head coaching job.Hornets executives met with Fratello in Cleveland on Wedne
No Bradley in Mariners' starting lineup >>
SEATTLE (AP) -Milton Bradley is not in the Seattle Mariners' starting lineup one day after he left the stadium following his benching by manager Don Wakamatsu.Ryan Langerhans is listed as the starter in left field for Wednesday's game against Tampa
Ainge comes clean in Cleveland towel incident >>
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) -Danny Ainge says he regrets tossing a towel in the air to distract a Cavaliers player during a free throw attempt.The Celtics GM told WEEI-AM in Boston he behaved unprofessionally during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifina
Marseille secures Ligue 1 title >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille claimed its first Ligue 1 title
since 1992 on Wednesday as they earned a 3-1 win over Rennes at the Stade
Velodrome.
Second-placed Auxerre entered the day five points back of Marseille, but
A's silence Rangers, take rubber match >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daric Barton finished 2-for-3 with an RBI as
Oakland topped Texas, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set.
Eric Patterson homered while Ryan Sweeney and Kevin Kouzmanoff also drove in
runs for the A
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Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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