Edwards wins pole at Homestead, Stewart starts 15th

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/19/2011 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards gained a huge advantage over Tony Stewart in their battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship by winning the pole for Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Tony Stewart qualified 15th with his lap at 173.332 mph. Stewart enters the season-finale just three points behind Edwards.

Edwards, who was the second-to-last driver to make his qualifying run in the 48-car field, posted a lap at 175.467 mph for his third pole of the season and the 10th of his Sprint Cup career. He also won the pole at this track in 2005.

With the pole victory, Edwards' No.99 team claimed the first pit selection, which could play in favor for Edwards during his pit stops.

"That's huge," Edwards said. "That's just one lap, but that's a great start for us. We were great in practice. My guys did a great job today. That's what it's about, being able to come here and perform the best we can and not leave anything on the table. This is a great Saturday for us."

Edwards is the defending race winner at Homestead.

In the Chase for the Sprint Cup era (2004-present), three eventual champions have won the pole at Homestead. Kurt Busch did it '04, and Jimmie Johnson did so in 2007 and '09.

Stewart is attempting to win his third championship in the series. He is also trying to become the first driver/owner to win the title since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat first in 1992.

"The qualifying deal isn't how a race is going to play out, so this is one lap of 400 miles that we've got to go," Stewart said. "I'm glad that we spent more time on race trim than qualifying trim. We'll see how it plays out."

Martin Truex Jr. earned the outside pole after turning a lap at 174.808 mph.

Kasey Kahne, who won last weekend at Phoenix, qualified third, while Kurt Busch and his Penske Racing teammate, Brad Keselowski, rounded out the top- five.

Matt Kenseth took the sixth spot, followed by Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

Scott Speed, Reed Sorenson, Mike Skinner, Scott Riggs and Grant Enfinger failed to qualify.

The 400-mile race at Homestead is scheduled to start just after 3:00 p.m. (et).

Wwwdonbest Autoracing Betting News

<< Inter edges Cagliari
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thiago Motta and Philippe Coutinho scored in a 6-minute span of the second half, and Inter Milan won for just the second time in its last six Serie A games, 2-1 over Cagliari on Saturday at the San Siro. Motta

<< PSV closes the gap in the Eredivisie
Doetinchem, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSV Eindhoven placed some additional pressure on Eredivisie leaders AZ Alkmaar on Saturday, edging De Graafschap, 3-1, to close the gap at the top of the Dutch table. With 28 points t

<< Park, Gal share lead at Grand Cypress
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hee Young Park birdied three of the last four holes Saturday to join Sandra Gal in the lead after three rounds of the season-ending CME Group Titleholders. Gal managed a one-under 71. The duo finished 54 holes

<< No. 8 Louisville takes down Butler
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Kuric scored 17 points, Chris Smith had 15 and No. 8 Louisville pulled away in the last 12 minutes of the game to beat Butler, 69-53, on Saturday. Louisville (3-0) didn't take its first lead un

<< Albany shares NEC title, but earns playoff bid
Albany, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan DiLella threw four touchdown passes on Saturday as Albany beat Sacred Heart, 31-21, and earned its first FCS playoff bid as the Northeast Conference co-champion. Albany (8-3, 7-1) shared the title with Duque

North Dakota State gets Missouri Valley bid >>
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Dakota State beat Western Illinois, 37-21, on Saturday to earn a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and its automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. No. 5 North Dakota State (10-1, 7-1) share

McCarron, Richardson lead No. 3 Alabama over Georgia Southern >>
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AJ McCarron threw for three touchdowns and Trent Richardson ran for two, leading No. 3 Alabama to a 45-21 victory over Georgia Southern. McCarron completed 14-of-19 passes for 190 yards, while Richardso

Montpellier edges Marseille to move into a tie for first >>
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montpellier continued its run of good form on Saturday with a 1-0 home win over Marseille to move into a tie for first place in Ligue 1. Extending its unbeaten streak in league play to six ga

OVC champ Tennessee Tech earns FCS bid >>
Cookeville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There will be no six-way tie for the Ohio Valley Conference championship. Tennessee Tech made sure of it. The Golden Eagles ripped Austin Peay, 49-7, on Saturday to claim a share of the OVC title and the

Syracuse wins in midst of Fine allegations >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Exactly one week after Penn State's football team played a game with controversy swirling around the program, the Syracuse men's basketball team took the floor Saturday facing a similar situation. The fift

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards