Power dominant at Sonoma, increases points lead

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/22/2010 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One year after his serious crash at Infineon Raceway nearly ended his IZOD IndyCar Series career, Will Power put on a dominating performance to win the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at this 2.303-mile road course in Northern California.

Power started on the pole for a record eighth time this season and then led all but two of the 75 laps. The Team Penske driver only relinquished the lead when he pitted the second and final time under the green flag. Scott Dixon came in for his stop two laps after Power, but the Aussie easily flew by Dixon after he exited the pits.

A late-race caution for an incident involving E.J. Viso and Bertrand Baguette set up a six-lap sprint to the finish. Dixon made several attempts to overtake Power after the restart, but Power eventually pulled away and finished 0.74 seconds ahead Dixon for his fifth IndyCar win this season.

Last year, Power's season came to an abrupt end at Sonoma, where he sustained multiple injuries during a practice crash. He suffered two broken vertebrae and a concussion when his car hit the stalled car of Nelson Philippe, who spun exiting the blind, downhill corner.

"What a perfect weekend to come back here after a year ago lying in the hospital watching this same race," said Power, who became the sixth different winner in as many IndyCar races held at Sonoma.

All five of Power's wins this season have come on road/street courses. He now holds a 59 point lead over Dario Franchitti, who finished third. Franchitti started on the pole and won last year's race here.

Two weeks ago, Power's second-place finish at Mid-Ohio allowed him to claim the Mario Andretti Trophy for clinching the series' first-ever road/street course championship.

Sonoma was the ninth and final road/street race of the season. There are four oval events remaining, with the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway scheduled next Saturday night.

"I'm going for it; I want to win this championship," Power said. "I'm not sitting back, and I'm not going to be stupid, but I do want to win an oval [race] before the end of the year, and I want to win the overall championship."

After finishing second, Dixon is now 95 points behind Power.

"We put on the red [tires] and seemed to be a lot quicker, and we thought we had a go at Will," Dixon said. "I don't know whether he was saving them a little bit earlier on, and I was starting to catch him pretty quickly, but in turn, I think I was using mine up too much. I gave it all I could on the restarts, and I was trying to stick my nose in there anywhere I could, but eventually it didn't come off."

Power's Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Justin Wilson, Tony Kanaan, Ryan-Hunter Reay, Graham Rahal and rookie Alex Lloyd completed the top-10.

Dan Wheldon was involved in a wild crash on the opening lap. Wheldon got clipped by Baguette and slammed into the wall before his car rolled upside down along the wall and then skidded down the track. His car continued to spin around upside down before it came to rest.

"It's never a good day to be upside down, but obviously everybody at Dallara and the Indy Racing League has worked very hard on the safety aspects of it," Wheldon said.

He finished last in the 25-car field.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.