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11/03/2007 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad McCumbee and Jack Sprague battled for the lead on the final restart, but when they took each other out just a few laps from the checkered flag Ted Musgrave took advantage to win Friday night's Silverado 350K at the Texas Motor Speedway. The No.9 Toyota crossed the finish line ahead of Brendan Gaughan
The victory was Musgrave's first of the season and 17th of his Craftsman Truck Series career.
In the series championship, Mike Skinner survived a wreck with Ron Hornaday Jr. to finish third and build a 57-point margin with two races remaining on the schedule.
Skinner brought the field to the green flag for 147 scheduled laps of tight high-speed racing. He led the first lap, collected a five-point bonus and was now the "in-race" championship leader.
The early man on the move was Kyle Busch. He started fifth, but by the time they completed lap number one, he was second to Skinner. But Musgrave fought back, passed Busch and then on lap 15 fought past Skinner into the lead.
Busch also got around the outside of Skinner on lap 36 and went after Musgrave. Two laps later he slid underneath Musgrave who obviously saw him coming and let the faster truck through without a fight.
Travis Kvapil's pit crew did a great job on the first round of pit stops (lap 41), gaining the No.6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford four positions and the lead as Busch came out second best. But it took less than two laps for Busch to retake the lead with a "power move" around the outside.
In the race-within-the-race, after 50 laps, Skinner was fourth and Hornaday Jr. fifth. By lap 53, Hornaday Jr. passed Skinner on his charge towards the leader, while Skinner was backing up.
On lap 67, Kvapil began to complain that his truck was losing power, although he was still maintaining his position - second. Then just as suddenly, Busch turned down pit road with an engine problem of his own. He took off his gloves and turned directly behind the wall, indicating his day was over.
Most of the leaders pitted, but Musgrave led a small group that stayed out and he was the new race leader. It didn't last long as Skinner pulled alongside and finally past the No.9 Toyota. When Hornaday Jr. saw Skinner take the lead, he knew he couldn't wait any longer and ducked under two trucks at once, taking second place from Musgrave. Hornaday Jr., however, had pitted at the last caution giving him a fuel advantage.
Fifty laps remaining and Skinner still led Hornaday Jr., but now he needed a caution flag or he would have to stop under green and lose a lap to the field.
Hornaday Jr. took the lead on lap 101, giving him the all-important five-point bonus. But he didn't stop there. He quickly put some room between himself and Skinner.
The racing stayed green, a disaster for Skinner, and he pitted for the last time. A 16.98-second stop was pretty good, but he still lost a lap to Hornaday Jr. Now, Skinner had to hope that the race stayed green until Hornaday Jr. had to stop, otherwise he would be in trouble.
No yellow appeared and Hornaday Jr. had to pit on lap 129 balancing out his battle with Skinner.
A two-tire stop and Hornaday Jr. got back on the track ahead of Skinner. Erik Darnell inherited the lead, with Mike Bliss in second and Hornaday Jr. in third. Finally Darnell and Bliss had to get their final fuel stop and the No.33 Chevy was again the lead.
Kvapil crashed with eight laps to go when a rear tire blew to bring out a caution flag. Just 10 trucks remained on the lead lap. The green flag would drop with four laps left and Skinner right on Hornaday Jr.'s rear bumper.
On the restart, Skinner went to the outside of Hornaday Jr. He got even with him as Hornaday Jr. slid up the track to try and protect his position. That left room for McCumbee to drop to the bottom of the track. He did just that entering turn three and charged past both Skinner and Hornaday Jr.
"I knew we could win the race if we went on the outside," said Skinner. "We went up there and Chad made a really good move and got under Ron. We went into (turn) three and I don't know what happened, I don't know if Ronnie got loose."
As they were coming out of the corner, both championship contenders began to spin, almost in choreographed unison. When they spun, they were hit from behind and NASCAR had to bring out the red flag to clean up the multi-car mess.
Word also filtered down from NASCAR that Hornaday Jr. would be penalized one lap for moving up the track to block.
The race restarted with three laps to go as both pit championship pit crews tried to get their trucks back on the track. Skinner didn't have much damage and got right back out there in seventh, but Hornaday Jr.'s pit had engine oil everywhere.
McCumbee got a bad restart, spinning his wheels, but tried to hold off Jack Sprague. They both spun causing another huge accident. Musgrave, in third, was declared the race winner. Skinner swerved, avoided the McCumbee/Sprague incident and finished third. Hornaday Jr. was credited with an 18th-place finish that leaves him 57 points behind Skinner.
The 24th of 25 races in the series is scheduled for Friday night, November 9th at the Phoenix International Raceway.
<< Iguodala, Sixers stun Bulls
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Iguodala scored 22 points, grabbed 10
rebounds and handed out six assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to an
impressive road win over the Chicago Bulls, 96-85, at the United Center.
Andre Mil
<< Duncan celebrates extension by lifting Spurs over Kings
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Duncan scored 15 points and pulled down
10 rebounds, and the Spurs used a stellar defensive effort to rout Sacramento,
96-80, and beat the Kings for a fifth straight time.
Earlier in the day, Duncan
<< New-look Celtics pound Wizards to open season
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and pulled down
20 rebounds in his Boston debut to lead the Celtics over Washington, 103-83,
in the club's season opener at TD Banknorth Garden.
Boston's executive director o
<< Anthony and Nuggets bounce back to defeat T-Wolves
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony poured in 33 points, and
Allen Iverson added 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rebounded from a slow
start to down the Minnesota Timberwolves, 99-91.
Marcus Camby had 14 points and 21
Preds score three in third to top Oilers >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Arnott scored the game-winning tally in
a three-goal third period for Nashville, as the Predators rallied past the
Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, at Rexall Place.
Dave Legwand, Radek Bonk and Vernon Fiddle
Ching leads champs to Western final >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second straight season, the Houston
Dynamo came back from a first leg deficit in the Western semis to advance to
the Major League Soccer Western Conference Final.
Last season, the Dynamo fell a
Bombers edge Als to move back into first place >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Reid's two touchdowns and Troy Westwood's
pair of field goals were enough for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to hold off the
Montreal Alouettes, 20-17, and regain first place in the East Division.
With Winni
Vols kick RB Coker off team >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee sophomore running back LaMarcus
Coker was kicked off the football team Friday for violating team rules.
Coker was suspended for the third time in less than a year on Wednesday for
unspecified
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
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