Nationwide Series begins second-half of season at Gateway

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, July 17. Race: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Site: Gateway International Raceway. Track: 1.25-mile oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 250. 2009 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: ESPN 2. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

The Nationwide Series rolls into the "Gateway to the West" for the start of the second half of the 2010 season. With 18 of 35 races completed, Brad Keselowski heads to Gateway International Raceway, located just outside of St. Louis, with a commanding 227-point lead over Carl Edwards.

Keselowski's 21st-place finish coupled with a seventh-place run for Edwards in last Friday race at Chicagoland allowed Edwards to trim 50 points off of Keselowski's lead.

Edwards and Keselowski, along with Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, Joe Nemechek and Reed Sorenson, are those Sprint Cup Series regulars spending their off-weekend at Gateway.

One year ago, Kyle Busch added Gateway to his list of different tracks where he has won a Nationwide race. Busch benefited from Harvick's late-race misfortune, as Harvick ran out of fuel and handed the lead over to Busch with 29 laps remaining. He then held off Sorenson and Edwards in the closing laps for his sixth win of the season.

Busch will not defend his race title at Gateway. Brad Coleman will take over driving duties in the No.18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend.

Keselowski's best finish in three Nationwide starts at Gateway is fifth, which came in 2008. When Keselowski competed here for the first time three years ago, he finished 26th in his just his second start for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide team JR Motorsports.

This is Keselowski's first year with Penske Racing.

Edwards, Harvick and Sorenson have two victories each at Gateway. Earnhardt Jr. is the only other repeat winner here.

"I am looking forward to going to Gateway," Edwards said. "Those wins there to me are it. There are no wins that are bigger. Those wins there are as big as any of my Cup wins. I have a lot of folks that are going to come out to the race there, folks that don't get to go to the races a lot, but are good friends of mine."

For the fifth year in a row, Edwards will make his annual trek on bike from his hometown of Columbia, MO to the 1.25-mile Gateway track, which is located five miles northeast of downtown St. Louis.

"We are going to ride our bikes," he said "It is about 200 miles, and we have a pretty crazy crew coming. The first part is going to be a charity event. We are going to leave from Walt's Bicycle Shop in Columbia, and we are going to ride a really neat ride down to the Missouri River, where we will have a bunch of folks help raise some money for a friend of mine that needs help with some hospital bills."

Harvick has competed in four Nationwide races at Gateway, with two victories and three-top-10 finishes. He finished 17th in last year's race here.

"Gateway has been a great track to me over the years," Harvick said. "I have two wins in four Nationwide Series starts, and look forward to continuing that success this time around with the No.33 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet. Gateway is a very unique track with two completely different sets of corners, which makes for some great racing that the fans will enjoy."

Ryan Truex, who is a development driver for Michael Waltrip Racing and the younger brother of Sprint Cup regular and two-time Nationwide champion Martin Truex Jr., will make his series debut at Gateway. The 18-year-old Truex won the 2009 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion. He currently holds the points lead in that series.

"It is a really big opportunity, and I'm just excited to get started," Truex said. "I just can't thank everyone enough at MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) for giving me this opportunity.

"Three years ago, I remember racing a Legend car at Wall Stadium in New Jersey, and now I'm here. It's hard to believe how fast it's come, but I'm excited, ready to get started and make the most of my opportunity."

Forty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

The series will race again at Gateway on October 23. It's the first year this track hosts two Nationwide events in the same season.

Wwwbetandwin Autoracing Betting News

<< Columbus hosts struggling K.C. in mid-week MLS fixture
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew return home when they host the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer action at Crew Stadium on Wednesday. The Eastern Conference leading Crew (8-2-4) are coming off a scoreless d

<< Agent: Ilgauskas to sign with Miami Heat
MIAMI (AP) -Zydrunas Ilgauskas is following LeBron James to the Miami Heat.Agent Herb Rudoy says the veteran center expects to sign a two-year contract later this week. The terms have not been finalized, but Rudoy says ``we've agreed to agree.''Rudo

<< Kohlschreiber exits Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded German favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber was an opening-round upset victim Tuesday at the Mercedes Cup tennis event. German Florian Mayer upended his compatriot Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on

<< Leverkusen signs striker Jorgensen
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen has completed the signing of striker Nicolai Jorgensen from Danish side AB. The 19-year-old has earned himself a five-year deal with the Bundesliga club after impressing on a

<< Palermo makes offer for Liverpool's Lucas
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva could be on his way to Italy after Palermo made an offer for the Brazilian. The Serie A side are reported to have tabled a bid in the region of six million euros for t

Trucks join Nationwide at Gateway >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Friday, July 16. Race: CampingWorld.com 200. Site: Gateway International Raceway. Track: 1.25-mile oval. Start time: 9:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 162. Miles: 200. 2009 winner: Mi

IndyCar tackles the streets of Toronto >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, July 18. Race: Honda Indy Toronto. Site: Streets of Toronto. Track: 1.721-mile, 11- turn temporary street course. Start Time: 12:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 85. Miles: 146.285. 2009

Safarova, Dulgheru advance in Prague >>
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Czech favorite Lucie Safarova and No. 2 seed Alexandra Dulgheru were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event. Safarova handled Latvia's Anast

Jacksonville State renaming stadium >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville State University will rename its football field Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium at its Sept. 11 home opener against Chattanooga. The university's Board of Trustees approved the name change f

Dundee signs Swanson to extension >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United midfielder Danny Swanson has penned a contract extension to keep him at Tannadice until the summer of 2012. The 23-year-old has scored seven times in 87 appearances for the Terrors t

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


Since the late 1990's, MySportsbook.com has been an online sportsbook / poker room / casino that focuses on quality.. MySportsbook caters to the experienced sports fan who values reliability and accuracy, with great attention to detail. MySportsbook's success over the past 3 years has made them the envy of the sports gambling industry. There are hundreds of sites appearing all over the Internet claiming to be the next best sportsbook online, each one is trying to use the same marketing techniques as MySportsbook originated.

If you want to try the most stylish and reliable type of online sportsbook, go with MySportsbook. Most online sportsbooks give you live odds and plenty of games and events to bet on, at MySportsbook they'll give you that and more. While perfection may be a lofty goal, MySportsbook attempts to achieve that goal. All sorts of ways to bet on football, football betting, Super Bowl betting lines.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.