Crafton earns pole at Chicagoland

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/28/2009 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Crafton will start on the pole for Friday's inaugural EnjoyIllinois 225 Camping World Truck Series race after posting the fastest lap in qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway.

Crafton rounded the 1.5-mile oval at 171.914 m.p.h. in his No.88 ThorSport Chevrolet for his second career Truck Series pole, but his first since September 2005 at New Hampshire.

Chad McCumbee will start alongside Crafton after turning a lap at 171.636 m.p.h.

Todd Bodine qualified third, followed by Kyle Busch, last week's race winner at Bristol, and Rick Crawford.

Ron Hornaday Jr., the current points leader, will start sixth. Hornaday saw his five-race winning streak end at Bristol, but still holds a commanding 211- point advantage over Crafton.

Brent Sherman, Stacy Compton, Jason White and Colin Braun completed the top-10.

Michelle Theriault, John Jackson and Ryan Hackett failed to qualify.

Today's 225-mile race is scheduled to begin around 9:00 p.m. (et).

Foxaports Autoracing Betting News

<< K.C., RSL square off with valuable points on the line
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two bottom-third Major League Soccer clubs meet on Saturday night when the Kansas City Wizards host Real Salt Lake in an inter-conference match-up at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards are in desper

<< Indians get Pino from Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians acquired right-handed pitcher Yohan Pino from the Twins to complete the August 7 trade that sent righty Carl Pavano to Minnesota. The 25-year-old Pino has split the 2009 season

<< Gonzo to announce retirement, return to Diamondbacks
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longtime outfielder Luis Gonzalez is returning to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but his playing days are finished. The team will hold a news conference Saturday at 4 p.m. (et), when the 41- year-old Gonzalez

<< Soriano's blast helps Cubs top Mets
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alfonso Soriano went 3-for-3 and hit the game- winning three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Chicago Cubs over the New York Mets, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game series at Wrig

<< Briscoe leads Penske front row for Chicagoland
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Briscoe will start on the pole for the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 after edging his Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in Friday's qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway. Briscoe, the current In

Real expects big things with Kaka, Ronaldo >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid captain Raul knows the additions of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo - the last two FIFA World Players of the Year - have raised expectations, but he thinks the team is "capable of achieving what this cl

Chicago hosts D.C. with eyes on top spot in East >>
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire wasted a chance to overtake the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference last week, but after escaping with a 3-2 win over Colorado, felt good to earn six points in an eight-day span. Chicago

Colorado hopes to rebound from tough loss vs. Houston >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo travel to Colorado to take on the Rapids in a key Major League Soccer Western Conference clash on Sunday afternoon. The Dynamo (11-6-7) currently hold the top spot in the West, but

Simpson leads Barclays by two strokes >>
Jersey City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA Tour rookie Webb Simpson carded a three-under 68 Friday to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of The Barclays, the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Simpson, who is in search of his first PGA

Bears DT Dvoracek undergoes season-ending ACL surgery >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek underwent season-ending ACL surgery on Friday the team announced. A third-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2006, Dvoracek has appeared in just 13 games i

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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