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11/09/2008 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson took a huge step closer towards capturing his record-tying third-consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship with a dominating victory in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off Kurt Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.
The victory was Johnson's seventh of the season and the 40th of his Sprint Cup career. He also became the first driver to win three races in a row at Phoenix.
Johnson now holds a 141-point lead over Carl Edwards, who finished fourth. If Johnson finishes 36th or better, regardless of Edwards' performance, in next weekend's season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will clinch the title.
"I can't tell you how tough the last week has been," Johnson said. "It's just emotional regardless of where you're at if you have a big points lead or not. This is what I've worked my whole life for."
Johnson finished 15th last Sunday at Texas, his first finish outside the top-10 in this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup." Edwards, who won at Texas, trimmed Johnson's lead to 106 points.
Now Edwards is hoping for a miracle in Homestead if he has any chance at winning the championship.
"Jimmie is just doing it, and he did a great job," Edwards said. "I think what we have to do is keep our heads up and go to Homestead. It's still possible, but not probable. I guarantee you we're just gonna go there and give it a 100% and hope something happens."
Johnson started on the pole, but Jamie McMurray passed Johnson to take the lead on the opening lap.
Sam Hornish, Jr. got loose and made contact with Elliott Sadler, causing the two to spin and hit the wall on Lap 19. Busch was the quickest off of pit road during the caution, while McMurray fell to seventh after a lengthy stop.
Johnson restarted fifth on Lap 24, but quickly moved to up to second just before the second caution came on Lap 30 when Brian Vickers cut a right rear tire and hit the wall hard.
When the race resumed on Lap 37, Johnson attempted to take the top spot from Busch, but the caution flag quickly came back out, this time for rain falling on the backstretch.
As the rain intensified by Lap 43, NASCAR stopped the race for 24 minutes.
Johnson chased down Busch and completed the pass as he took the lead for the first time on Lap 81.
Denny Hamlin and David Gilliland pitted on Lap 99 to begin a round of green- flag stops. Johnson came in two laps later and handed the lead back over to Busch, but Johnson was in front again on Lap 110.
At the half-way point, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers were in the top- six, with Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon running 1-2-3, and Casey Mears sixth.
But Gordon quickly fell back in the field as he struggled with power in his engine. By Lap 195, Johnson had put Gordon a lap down.
Gordon's engine expired on Lap 269 as he headed to the garage and called it a day.
"I felt it early on and started to lose some power," Gordon said. "I didn't pay too much attention to it, because I was still getting plenty of rpm, and the car was still running good. Then all of the sudden, it started really going down, and I felt it lose a cylinder."
Gordon is on the verge of his first winless season since his rookie year in 1993. His last victory came in October 2007 at Charlotte.
McMurray recaptured the lead on Lap 212 when he beat Johnson off of pit road during a caution. Johnson was held up during his stop.
However, Johnson quickly caught McMurray and dove underneath him to take back the top spot just after the restart on Lap 219. He led from there on out.
The sixth caution for debris on Lap 261 set up the final round of pit stops. Johnson remained the leader after he was the quickest out of the pits, while Edwards moved up to fourth, gaining three positions.
A major pileup occurred on Lap 273 when Juan Pablo Montoya bumped Casey Mears, causing Mears to spin as he collected several cars behind him. David Gilliland's car rested on top of Scott Speed's machine.
"I went through a cloud of smoke and the next thing was I started hitting something and I saw a little bit of fire," Speed said.
Scott Riggs, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty and Johnny Sauter were also involved in the incident. NASCAR halted the race again, this time for 18 minutes to clean up the track.
Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth made contact and spun on Lap 305. The 10th and final caution set up a green-white-checkered finish.
Busch attempted to steal the victory from Johnson during the final two lap but came up two car lengths short of accomplishing it.
"We were pretty good today but not that good," Busch said. "What Jimmie's team is building on and what they're doing to win three championships in a row is something pretty special."
McMurray finished third, while Hamlin came in fifth.
Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and David Ragan completed the top-10.
<< Johnson on the brink of third consecutive title with Phoenix win
Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's Checker O'Reilly
Auto Parts 500 with a dominating performance at the Phoenix International
Raceway. Johnson, the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, led 217
of 313
<< Line of Scrimmage: Coaching Carousel to Spin Out of Control
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark your calendars - Black Monday in the
NFL is scheduled for December 29th.
As a long Christmas weekend gives way to pre-New Year's euphoria, it is
possible that roughly one-third of the league's coachin
<< Manning, Colts get first win in Pittsburgh in 40 years
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning threw for 240 yards and three
touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Dominic Rhodes with 3:04 to play,
and the Indianapolis Colts hung on for a 24-20 win over the Steelers, their
first w
<< Williams and Panthers down Oakland
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeAngelo Williams rushed for 140 yards and a
touchdown, leading the Carolina Panthers to a 17-6 victory over the Oakland
Raiders.
Williams accounted for most of the team's offense, as the team managed
Celtics squash Pistons; Iverson flat in home debut >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Allen had 23 points off the bench,
and Ray Allen added 17 points and eight rebounds, as the Boston Celtics
defeated the Detroit Pistons, 88-76, in the teams' first meeting since last
season'
Kane, Havlat lead Chicago over Calgary >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kane and Martin Havlat both collected a
goal and two assists, as the surging Chicago Blackhawks trumped the Calgary
Flames, 6-1, at the United Center.
Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg each had a
Hawks remain unbeaten by edging Thunder >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Johnson scored 25 points to help the
Atlanta Hawks remain unbeaten with an 89-85 victory over the Oklahoma City
Thunder.
Marvin Williams added 16 points for the Hawks, who at 5-0 are off to t
Oilers edge Devils >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers stopped 37-of-38 shots,
and the Edmonton Oilers edged the New Jersey Devils, 2-1.
Ales Hemsky had a goal and an assist, and Sheldon Souray scored the other goal
for the Oilers, who ha
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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