Martin leads Hendrick front row sweep at Talladega
Autoracing Betting Lines
10/22/2011 - Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Martin grabbed the pole for the Good Sam Club 500, while his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, qualified second to give Hendrick Motorsports the front starting row for Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Martin turned a lap at 181.367 mph around the 2.66-mile superspeedway for his 51st career pole, which ranks him eighth on the Sprint Cup Series' all-time pole winners list.
"That's a huge number," Martin said. "It's pretty incredible, and it's speaks highly of all the people who have worked on my race cars through the years. I've had the privilege of driving so many fast race cars. This is such a tremendous team effort from everybody at Hendrick Motorsports."
It was Martin's second pole of the season and his third in 48 races at Talladega. His first pole this season came in July at Daytona -- the most recent restrictor-plate event.
Martin edged Johnson for the Talladega pole by only 0.002 seconds.
HMS has dominated qualifying on restrictor-plate tracks (Talladega and Daytona) this season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Daytona 500, and Jeff Gordon claimed the top starting spot for the spring race at Talladega.
"We've been able to flex a lot of muscle on the restrictor-plate stuff lately, so I'm very proud of everyone at HMS," said Johnson, who won at Talladega earlier this year.
Team owner Rick Hendrick is one win away from capturing his 200th in NASCAR's premier series.
Clint Bowyer, the defending race winner, qualified third. Bowyer is leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of the season to drive for Michael Waltrip Racing next year. He would love nothing more than to win one of his last five races with RCR.
"It would be a good way to cap off this relationship, and I couldn't think of a better way to do it than right here at Talladega," Bowyer said.
Trevor Bayne, who won this year's Daytona 500, qualified fourth. HMS teammates Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. took the fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
Paul Menard, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, the current points leader, and Ryan Newman completed the top-10.
Edwards enters the race with a five-point advantage over Kevin Harvick, who will start 13th. Matt Kenseth, last weekend's race winner at Charlotte, is presently seven points behind Edwards, who is his teammate at Roush Fenway Racing. Kenseth qualified 11th.
Johnson, attempting to win his record-extending sixth straight Sprint Cup championship, is 35 points out of the lead.
Geoffrey Bodine, Scott Speed, T.J. Bell and Josh Wise failed to qualify.
The 500-mile race at Talladega is scheduled to start just after 2:00 p.m. (et).
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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South
In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
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