Allmendinger claims first Sprint Cup pole at Phoenix

Autoracing Betting Lines

04/09/2010 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Allmendinger will start on the pole for the first time in his Sprint Cup Series career after winning Friday's qualifying for the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Allmendinger, a former open-wheel competitor, turned in a blazing lap of 134.675 m.p.h. for his first pole in 87 starts. He also put the Richard Petty- owned No.43 car on the pole for the first time since John Andretti did it for Petty in November 1999 at Phoenix.

"To get a pole, it might be minor, but it's a small victory for us," Allmendinger said. "We've always struggled in qualifying, but to get our first pole and kind of get that monkey off our back, we get to see the green flag drop and go to the front."

Allmendinger's best Sprint Cup finish so far is third, which came in the 2009 Daytona 500.

Scott Speed will join Allmendinger on the front row after turning a lap of 134.373 m.p.h. Speed matched his best qualifying effort, with his first outside pole coming in November 2008 at Homestead.

"We knew looking at the data after practice that our car was pretty good," Speed said. "As a team, we did a good job this week, because [Phoenix] is one of those places where we only get two practices all weekend. We really have to maximize those as much as we can."

Sam Hornish Jr. qualified a career-best third, while Marcos Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Joey Logano took the sixth starting spot, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, who's making his 200th career Cup start, and Jeff Gordon.

Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson qualified 16th. Johnson has won four of the last five races at Phoenix. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin won here one year ago. Martin was 23rd in qualifying.

Denny Hamlin will start 26th. Hamlin returned to the track for the first time since he underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee nine days ago. He expects to start the 375-lap race, but might hand over his car to relief driver Casey Mears in the early going.

"My goal is to know what I am going to do before lap 100," Hamlin said. "If I go past lap 100, there's no reason to decide and abort. I just need to tough it out at that point. We got to do it early, and I will know early what I've got. There's so much different stuff that were going to do tomorrow morning to help this thing. I don't know how much better I will feel tomorrow, but I know as of today, there's no way I can do it."

Hamlin and Mears shared driving in the No.11 Toyota during both practices on Friday. Hamlin topped the charts in the first practice with a lap of 131.120 m.p.h. He was 23rd quickest in the final session.

The 29-year-old Hamlin plans to have his stitches removed and his knee drained on Saturday morning.

David Stremme, Aric Almirola, Mike Bliss and Brandon Ash failed to qualify.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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