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08/18/2007 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin pulled away from the field after the last round of pit stops and never looked back to capture Saturday afternoon's Carfax 250 Busch Series race at the Michigan International Speedway. The No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet driver crossed the finish line 6.998 seconds ahead of Matt Kenseth.
The victory was Hamlin's second of the season and fourth of his Busch career.
After winning his first Busch pole since 2004, Greg Biffle led the field to the green flag for 125 laps of high-speed racing.
The No.16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver was unsuccessful in holding off a charging Brian Vickers, who took the inside lane, on the first lap.
Vickers was still in the first when the initial caution flag of the race came out on lap seven. David Reutimann, who was second in the drivers standings, came down pit road during the caution period to fix a left-front fender problem.
On lap 11 Vickers led Biffle, Hamlin, Kenseth and Kevin Harvick to the restart. Kenseth used a great restart to make his way to the front. On lap 16 Kenseth ducked under Vickers for the lead.
The points leader, Carl Edwards, experienced some trouble when he spun out on lap 24 to bring out the caution flag. Edwards then received a penalty for entering pit road to early, which left him at the back of the field.
Vickers, who retook the top spot just before the caution came out, led the leaders down pit lane for their first pit stops of the afternoon under the caution period. Hamlin won the race off pit road followed by Biffle, Harvick, Kenseth and Vickers.
The race got back underway on lap 28, but four laps later, Tony Stewart brought out the caution flag. Vickers had to stop during the caution because his crew failed to completely fill his fuel tank on his last pit stop.
Kenseth led Hamlin, Biffle, Harvick and Mark Martin to the restart on lap 36. Kenseth held onto the lead, but Hamlin followed close behind.
Kenseth and Hamlin traded the first position back-and-forth a number of times. Kenseth finally won the battle and started to pull away on lap 58. Biffle, Harvick and Paul Menard battled behind these two drivers.
The No.17 Roush Ford driver had almost a one-second margin on Hamlin. That gap was quickly cut into as Kenseth approached lap traffic. And on lap 68 Hamlin took the outside lane to pass Kenseth.
Hamlin was still showing the way as the last round of pit stops approached for the leaders.
The leader came down pit road on lap 77 for his last stop. The rest of the leaders took their last stops during the next few laps. Kenseth had a slow stop which hurt his chance of winning.
When the cycle of green flag stops was complete, Hamlin led Kenseth, Harvick, Biffle and Martin. But the No.20 JGR Chevrolet driver held over a two-second lead as the field spread out.
With 25 laps left the margin for Hamlin was 2.453 seconds. As the lead continued to increase it was obvious it would take a caution flag for someone to have a chance of beating Hamlin.
The remaining laps had very little excitement. There were no more caution flags allowing Hamlin to cross the finish line unchallenged.
Harvick, Jeff Burton and Biffle completed the top-five.
Harvick's third-place finish vaulted him into second place overall, 700 points behind leader Edwards, who finished 28th.
The next race in the series is set for Friday, August 24th at the Bristol Motor Speedway.
<< Red Sox purchase Kielty's contract from minors
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox purchased the contract of
outfielder Bobby Kielty from Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday.
On August 6, the Red Sox signed Kielty to a minor league deal and in 10 games
with Pawtucket, Kielty
<< Ari's double leads Alkmaar past Venlo
Alkmaar, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazilian striker Ari collected a pair
of goals and added an assist to lift AZ Alkmaar over Venlo, 4-0, on opening
weekend of Eredivisie play on Saturday.
Alkmaar opened up the scoring in the sixth
<< Vahirua double sinks Lyon
Lorient, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marama Vahirua scored a pair of goals to
help Lorient knock off Lyon 2-1 at Stade du Moustoir on Saturday.
Lyon, the defending six-time league champions, have now dropped two of their
first three game
<< Federer outlasts Hewitt to reach Cincy final
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer needed more than 2 1/2 hours, but
gutted out a three-set triumph over Lleyton Hewitt to reach the final at the
Cincinnati Masters.
The top-seeded Federer earned a hard-fought, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 7-
Levin and Smith move in front in Montreal >>
Ile Bizard, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canadian Tour money leader Spencer Levin
and Byron Smith, close friends off the golf course, are tied for the lead
after three rounds of the Montreal Open.
Levin posted a four-under 68 on Saturday
Texans topple Cardinals in preseason play >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Schaub completed 9-of-12 passes for 108
yards and ran for a touchdown as the Houston Texans downed the Arizona
Cardinals, 33-20, at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Sage Rosenfels was 8-for-13 f
Mets' Castro placed on DL >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets catcher Ramon Castro was put
on the 15-day disabled list Saturday due to lower back pain.
Castro is the second Mets catcher to be put on the DL in the last week, as he
joined Paul Lo Duca.
Edwards and McNulty share Tradition lead >>
Sunriver, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Edwards and Mark McNulty are tied for
the lead after Saturday's third round of the Champions Tour's fourth major of
the year, The Tradition.
Edwards, the overnight leader, only managed an even-pa
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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