New Nationwide car running its first short-track race

Autoracing Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, September 10. Race: Virginia 529 College Savings 250. Site: Richmond International Raceway. Track: 0.75-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 250. Miles: 187.5. 2009 winner: Carl Edwards. Television: ESPN 2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

Friday's Nationwide race at Richmond International Raceway will be the third of four races for the series' new car this year. It also will be the first event the car runs on a short track.

The car made its debut on July 1 at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway and then ran again on August 14 at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway. The October 15 race at Charlotte, a 1.5-mile oval, will be last race for the car this season before it's introduced full-time in Nationwide next year.

Brad Keselowski, the current points leader, won last month at Michigan in a Dodge Challenger. Keselowski also won this year's spring race at Richmond.

"The real challenge for us going back to Richmond is making sure we run well with the new car," Keselowski said. "It obviously drives different. We won't be able to use the setup notes from the spring race. That's a little bit of a shame, because we were so good with the old car, but we've also been very strong and consistent in the new Dodge Challenger."

Carl Edwards is the defending winner of this race.

"It will be great to run the Nationwide [Ford] Mustang for the first time at a short track," Edwards said. "We get to test for a day, so we've got a really good test planned. We feel like we've got a good car built with all our latest updates."

NASCAR is allowing teams to test the car at Richmond in a full-day of practice on Thursday.

With nine races remaining, Keselowski holds a whopping 332-point lead over Edwards in the drivers' championship standings, but his No.22 Penske Racing Dodge team trails the No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team, with drivers Kyle Busch and Brad Coleman, by 83 points in the owners' title race.

Once again, Busch will try to claim his Nationwide record 11th win this season. Busch finished second to Jamie McMurray in last Saturday's race at Atlanta. He has three Nationwide victories at Richmond.

Sam Ard set the series record of 10 wins during the 1983 season, but Busch matched that record in 2008. Busch claimed his 10th win this season last month at Bristol.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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