Stewart tops in qualifying at Pocono

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart claimed the pole for Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 after posting the quickest lap in qualifying at Pocono Raceway.

Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, turned a lap of 171.393 m.p.h. around the 2.5-mile triangular track for his second pole of the season and the 14th of his Cup career. His first pole at Pocono came in July 2000.

Last night, Stewart competed in the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car event in Fargo, ND. He arrived at Pocono in the early hours of Friday morning.

"I was really, really upset because I crashed by myself into a marker tire in the inside while running second," Stewart said of last night's race in Fargo. "The last thing [World of Outlaws sprint car champion] Donny Schatz told me before I left was to take it out on those guys tomorrow, so I guess we took it out on the stopwatch today, so I'm really proud of that."

Schatz, who drives for Stewart, won the sprint car race.

Stewart won the Pocono 500 (June race) in 2003 and '09. The driver and owner of the No.14 Chevrolet has yet to win a Cup race so far this season.

Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed the outside pole with his qualifying lap of 171.096 m.p.h. Montoya won the pole for last weekend's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He led the most laps at Indy before crashing with less than 15 laps to go and ending up 32nd.

"Last week was a rough week for the team, but to rebound at a place where we don't run that well, it's nice," Montoya said.

Denny Hamlin, who has won the last two races at Pocono, took the third starting spot, followed by Jeff Gordon, a four-time race winner here, and Ryan Newman.

"We knew the cloud cover was going to help us out," Hamlin said. "We had good speed all day, but we just haven't had a great handling race car and it showed. We were all over the race track there. I'm very happy with the time, and we will start near the front, and that is a good starting spot for Sunday."

Jimmie Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, A.J. Allmendinger, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, the Brickyard 400 winner, and Mark Martin completed the top-10.

Points leader Kevin Harvick will start 14th. Harvick currently holds a 184- point advantage over Gordon.

David Stremme and Max Papis failed to qualify.

The 500-mile race at Pocono is scheduled to start shortly after 1:00 p.m. (et).

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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