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08/24/2010 - Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, August 29. Race: PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300. Site: Chicagoland Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval. Start Time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2009 winner: Ryan Briscoe. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.
After the ninth and last road/street course race of the season was completed last Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, the IZOD IndyCar Series now holds its "final four" events on 1.5-mile ovals, beginning this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
With five wins so far this season, Will Power from Team Penske holds a 59- point lead over Dario Franchitti, the defending series champion. Franchitti's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, is 95 points out of the top spot. All five of Power's wins have come on road/street courses.
"I don't think this championship is almost mine," he said. "There's a lot of racing to go. Four races, a lot can happen. Really, whatever the buffer is, you can lose a lot of that in just one race. I'm going to race those ovals like I want to win the championship. I think I got enough experience now, and I think we'll be very strong."
After Chicagoland, the series will head to Kentucky Speedway (September 4) and then Twin Ring Motegi in Japan (September 19) before wrapping up the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway (October 2).
Penske has won the last two race at Chicagoland, with Helio Castroneves taking the 2008 race and Ryan Briscoe capturing the 2009 event.
Power did not compete in last year's race at Chicagoland due to season-ending injuries he sustained during a practice crash at Sonoma. He finished fifth in his only IndyCar start at Chicagoland in 2008, when he drove for KV Racing Technology.
Even though Dixon and Franchitti have been dominant on the 1.5-mile ovals lately, a Ganassi driver has not won at Chicagoland since Dan Wheldon's victory in a Ganassi car here in 2006. Wheldon also won at Chicagoland in 2005.
Wheldon departed Ganassi and moved over to Panther Racing at the conclusion of the 2008 season.
Dixon has been the bridesmaid at Chicagoland, finishing second in the last four races here.
Last year, Briscoe beat Dixon to the finish line by 0.0077 seconds -- the fourth closest finish in series history.
"I've seen this movie before several times, so it's frustrating," Dixon said after his runner-up finish at Chicagoland in 2009. "I was thinking maybe for a lap or two there that we just might be able to do it. But for the majority of the night, if it came down to that shootout, I think we definitely knew we were going to lose. But it's getting pretty old, so hopefully we can turn it around at some point."
In 2008, Castroneves finished 0.0033 seconds ahead of Dixon in the second closest finish in series history. However, Dixon clinched the series title by 17 points over Castroneves.
When the series competed at Chicagoland in 2007, Franchitti, who drove for Michael Andretti's team at the time, entered the season-ending race with just a three-point lead over Dixon. The two drivers battled all the way to the final lap, with Franchitti taking the checkered flag and the series title.
Dixon held the lead on the last lap, but Franchitti passed Dixon, who suddenly slowed when he ran out of fuel. He coasted home second.
Chicagoland had hosted the series' season-finale from 2006-08. The season now ends in Homestead.
Twenty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300.
<< Nationwide runs final road course race of the season at Montreal
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Sunday,
August 29. Race: NAPA Auto Parts 200. Site: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Track:
2.710-mile, 14-turn road course. Start time: 2:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 74. Miles:
200.466. 20
<< Red Sox activate C Cash
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have activated catcher Kevin
Cash from the 15-day disabled list.
To make room for Cash, the Red Sox optioned catcher Dusty Brown to Triple-A
Pawtucket after Monday's win over Seattle.
C
<< Tigers' Ordonez to have ankle surgery
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez will
undergo a procedure on Wednesday to stabilize his broken right ankle.
Ordonez was examined by foot/ankle specialist Dr. Phillip Kwong of the Kerlan-
Jobe Clinic
<< This Week in Auto Racing August 27 - 29
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes its
final off-week of the season, but there's still plenty of racing action this
weekend. While the Nationwide Series heads north of the border to Montreal,
the Ca
Mariners-Red Sox game rained out; day-night DH set for Wednesday >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday's scheduled game between the Seattle
Mariners and Boston Red Sox has been postponed because of rain.
The contest will instead be played Wednesday as part of a day-night
doubleheader. The f
Cards place pitcher Reyes on DL >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis placed southpaw relief pitcher
Dennys Reyes on the 15-day disabled list with a left elbow strain Tuesday.
The move, retroactive to August 16, leaves a gap on the roster that will be
filled
Rangers purchase Cora's contract, designate Arias >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have purchased the contract
of infielder Alex Cora from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Cora, who the Rangers signed to a minor league deal last week, played in 62
games for the New York Mets thi
Ohlendorf could be done for year >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pirates might have lost the services
of pitcher Ross Ohlendorf for the year.
Ohlendorf was diagnosed with a strained lat muscle behind his right
shoulder after an MRI was taken Tuesday m
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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