Johnson aiming for fourth Brickyard 400 win

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, July 25. Race: Brickyard 400. Site: Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Track: 2.5- mile rectangle. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 160. Miles: 400. 2009 winner: Jimmie Johnson. Television: ESPN. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

After taking a week off, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for one of the most prestigious races of the season -- the Brickyard 400.

This year, Jimmie Johnson is looking to join an elite group of drivers who have won four or more times at Indy. Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, has won the 400-mile race at Indy the last two years and three of the last four.

His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, won the Brickyard 400 in 1994 (inaugural year), '98, 2001 and '04. IndyCar legends A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears have four victories each in the Indianapolis 500. Formula One star Michael Schumacher holds the record for most wins at Indy. Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix here five times, including four in a row from 2003-06.

"It would be a huge honor to join the list of four time winners," Johnson said. "Just to win there once is a career maker for anyone, so to have three victories, there means a lot to me. When I went to do the winners' circle appearance a month or so ago, I was there with Rick Mears and to see him as a four-time winner and to talk about his experiences at the track and what it's done for his life and career was neat. It helped me open my eyes to his world and the open-wheel world there."

One year ago, Johnson became the first driver to win the Brickyard 400 in consecutive years. Johnson held off a furious charge from his teammate Mark Martin in the closing laps. Juan Pablo Montoya had the car to beat at Indy, as he led 116 of 160 laps. But Montoya was caught speeding on pit road during the final round of stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Montoya, who was hoping to become the first driver to win both the Brickyard 400 and the Indianapolis 500, wound up finishing 11th. His Indy 500 victory came in 2000.

Earlier this year, Montoya's team owner, Chip Ganassi, made motorsports history by becoming the first owner to win the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. Jamie McMurray won at Daytona for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in February, while Dario Franchitti captured the victory at Indianapolis for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in May.

"At the big events, our season has been pretty good," Ganassi said. "Obviously, with the wins at Daytona and Indianapolis, we have the big events covered."

Now the question is whether McMurray or Montoya can give Ganassi a win in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

In the 16-year history of the Brickyard 400, the winner of this race has gone on to clinch the Cup championship that season eight times, including the last two years with Johnson.

Kevin Harvick, who won the Brickyard 400 for Richard Childress Racing in 2003, currently holds a 103-point lead over Gordon. Harvick was 25th in points at this time last year.

"Indy is just like Daytona, and everybody wants to win that particular race," said Harvick, who finished sixth one year ago at Indy. "For us last year, that was kind of where the turnaround started with our new cars."

Gordon won the Brickyard 400 and the series title in 1998 and 2001. Presently second in points, he has been winless in the last 48 races, which is now the longest drought in his illustrious Cup career. However, Gordon has finished third, fourth or fifth in the last five races.

"I think the only frustration I see is letting the wins that I feel like we really could have pulled off slip away," Gordon said. "Those are a little frustrating to me, but I'm really proud of the top fives we've put together. I'd like to get back to being more dominant. We need to lead more laps. That's what was putting us in position to win races earlier in the season. We got off that a little bit. We weren't leading like we were. That's what's gonna get us back into victory lane. I feel like we're right there, though. We're just so close."

Winning at Indianapolis has always been a lifelong dream for drivers, including Stewart-Haas Racing teammates and Indiana natives Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. Stewart, from nearby Columbus, IN, has two victories in the Brickyard 400 (2005 and '07), while Newman, who grew up roughly 140 miles north of Indianapolis in South Bend, has only one top-10 finish in nine starts at Indy. He finished fourth in the 2002 race.

"For both of us growing up from Indiana, it's a special event for the whole series in general, but when you've grown up near that speedway, it's a big goal and a lifelong dream for us to have that opportunity," Stewart said.

Forty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Brickyard 400.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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