07/04/2008 - Daytona Beach, FL (Autoracing Betting) - Paul Menard became a first-time pole winner in the Sprint Cup Series, taking the top spot for Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway. The No.15 Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver turned in a lap at the high-banked 2.5-mile superspeedway of 48.409 seconds (185.916 m.p.h.).
Menard's first career pole victory came in his 57th start. His previous best start was in June at Dover where he started 13th.
"Everyone back at the shop does such an awesome job, said Menard. "It ran good at Talladega in the race...it all comes down to guys that work on it."
Menard becomes the second first-time pole winner in a row. Patrick Carpentier won last week's pole at New Hampshire.
Starting alongside Menard on the front row will be his DEI teammate Mark Martin who posted a time of 48.421 seconds. Earlier in the day, Martin announced he'll drive the No.5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports full-time beginning next year.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (48.534) and Joe Nemechek (48.573) will make up row two.
Other drivers of note and their starting positions: points leader Kyle Busch (ninth), Matt Kenseth (19th), Jeff Burton (23rd), Jeff Gordon (26th), Jimmie Johnson (30th), Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman (32nd) and Kasey Kahne (41st).
Despite a 17th-place starting position on the grid, Tony Stewart should be a factor in the race. Smoke" has been known for his hot streaks during the summer months. During his second championship season in 2005, all five of his victories for the year came in a seven-race stretch from June to August. Last season, he picked up back-to-back wins at Chicagoland and Indianapolis in July before his most recent victory at Watkins Glen.
Stewart won this race (formerly the Pepsi 400) in 2005 and 2006. He was running up front with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in the early stages of last year's race, but his chances of a three-peat quickly came to an end when he ran into the back of Hamlin. Hamlin spun back into Stewart, taking both drivers out. Stewart and Hamlin finished 38th and 43rd, respectively.
Boris Said will be in this year's show after rain cancelled qualifying and ended his pole-winning run last year. A fan favorite, Said qualified seventh quickest on Friday.
Defending race champion Jamie McMurray will start 40th. McMurray picked up his second career Cup victory last year at Daytona. He edged Busch to the finish line by only 0.005 seconds in what was one of the closest finishes since NASCAR started using electronic timing and scoring in 1993. McMurray has been winless since Daytona.
The green flag is scheduled to drop on Saturday around 8 p.m. (et).
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Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann is
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The 23-year-old impressed for his country at Euro 2008, having struggled to
m
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Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona ace Lionel Messi would like to
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The 21-year-old Argentina forward has bee
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Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Fire coach Denis Hamlett admitted after
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Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies placed first baseman
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The move is retroactive to July 3.
Helton, 34, is hitting .266 with seven home runs
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Stoke-on-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Midfielder Salif Diao is determined
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Sampdoria signs defender Stankevicius >>
Genoa, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzarri has bolstered
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smith and Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running back Deuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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