Montoya grabs pole for Brickyard 400

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting the quickest lap in Saturday's qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Montoya edged defending race winner Jimmie Johnson for the pole with a lap of 182.278 m.p.h. The 34-year-old Colombian claimed his second pole of the season and the fourth of his Sprint Cup Series career. Montoya was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday at Indy.

"Our cars have come a long way," Montoya said. "Last year, we had a really fast car here, and I feel the same way this year. We still got to run the race. It's exciting when you go to a place, especially Indy, and you have a shot at winning and being this competitive."

One year ago, Montoya had the dominant car at Indy, as he led 116 of 160 laps. But Montoya was caught speeding on pit road during the final round of stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Johnson went on to claim his third Brickyard 400 victory, while Montoya settled for an 11th-place finish.

Montoya will attempt to become the first driver in history to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indy. He won the Indy 500 in 2000.

His team owner, Chip Ganassi, also will try to become the first owner to win the Daytona 500, as well as the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season. Jamie McMurray won at Daytona for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in February, while Dario Franchitti captured the victory at Indianapolis for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in May.

"Our teams have had a good run of things here," Ganassi said. "We have a race to run tomorrow, and we have lots of goals in mind for the team this season, and this is just one more step today having the pole."

Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, qualified 0.04 seconds behind Montoya to take the outside pole.

"This qualifying session means a lot to people, not only for the track position and the pit stall, but it's just Indy," Johnson said.

Mark Martin, who won the pole at Indy last year, took the third spot, while Montoya's teammate, McMurray, claimed the fourth position.

"I had such a good race car that it didn't have to be perfect, but it was a good lap," Martin said. "We had no mistakes, but just tried to get a little too much in turn four."

Ryan Newman will start fifth, and Clint Bowyer will roll off sixth. Chevrolet swept the top-six starting positions for this race.

Greg Biffle gave Ford its best qualifying performance at Indy with a seventh starting spot.

Chevrolet drivers Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton completed the top-10. Harvick currently holds a 103-point lead over Gordon, who is a four- time Brickyard 400 winner.

David Gilliland, Casey Mears, David Stremme and J.J. Yeley failed to qualify.

Final practice at Indy is slated for later in the day, and Sunday's 400-mile race is scheduled to start around 1:00 p.m. (et).

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

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