Kvapil finishes strong for win in Nashville

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/12/2007 - Lebanon, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Skinner led the first 102 laps, but Travis Kvapil finished with a rush to capture Saturday night's Toyota Tundra 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway. The No.6 Roush Racing driver crossed the finish line more than one second ahead of Ron Hornaday Jr.

The victory was Kvapil's third of the season and eighth of his truck career.

Skinner brought the field to the green flag for 150 laps of truck racing. Skinner set a fast early pace and only Todd Bodine and Jack Sprague were within five seconds of the leader after just 20 laps.

Skinner had still been the race's only leader as the field crossed the 40-lap mark. He had lapped up to the 26th truck and held a five-second lead. But a caution flag quickly erased the lead on lap 42.

Everyone pitted and Skinner, who made no chassis changes, was first off pit road and ready to rebuild his lead.

The green flag dropped and off went Skinner. Meanwhile, Erik Darnell, who restarted in sixth, immediately dropped out of the top-20 with a severe handling problem, likely a tire going flat. Another caution flag slowed the field, but helped Darnell, who quickly came to pit lane for a new set of tires.

The race got back underway and again Skinner took off. One driver that was making progress in the chase of Skinner was Ron Hornaday Jr. who started 14th, but cracked the top-five by lap 60. And it was Hornaday Jr. who was second in the championship to Skinner and couldn't afford to let him runaway and hide from the field.

Skinner was still putting up a fast numbers, but Musgrave was staying with him this time, as the field passed the halfway point of the race. Musgrave was trying different lines and found one that he could keep up with Skinner, though passing didn't seem in the cards.

It was still a "two-horse race" after 100 laps as both Skinner and Musgrave built a one-second lead on Kvapil and Johnny Benson. Bodine and Hornaday Jr. were stuck in fifth and sixth, respectively but were not making any moves towards the leaders.

A caution flag just after halfway sent everyone down pit lane. Suddenly, Kvapil's truck came to life and within a couple of laps he not only caught Skinner, but made the pass for the lead.

"We made the right adjustments...and we saved our best tires for last," said Kvapil.

On lap 110 Benson blew a right-front tire and he slapped the outside wall to bring out a caution flag. Kvapil was first off pit lane with Hornaday Jr. in second and Skinner in third.

Kvapil stretched the lead to more than one second as the field hit the 115-lap mark, 35 laps to go. They were still one-two-three with 20 laps to go. Kvapil held 1.528 seconds on Hornaday Jr. and more than two seconds on Skinner as the laps dwindled to just 15.

Kvapil was still pounding out the quick laps and the gap between first and second was two seconds with 10 laps to go. Kvapil cruised to the checkered flag.

Skinner finished third and will bring an 82-point lead to the next event.

The next race in the series is set for Wednesday, August 22nd at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

Supercazino Autoracing Betting News

<< Dutch club Groningen signs striker Berg
Groningen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dutch Eredivisie club Groningen has signed striker Marcus Berg to a four-year contract. Berg, 21, scored 13 goals in 16 matches for IFK Gothenburg in Sweden's first division this season. Gothenbu

<< PGA Championship Third Round News & Notes
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after Tiger Woods threatened the lowest score in major championship history, Boo Weekley put up a number that would have been the talk of Tulsa. On Saturday, Weekley fired a five-under 65 and moved

<< Sporting tops Porto to win Portuguese Supercup
Leiria, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Midfielder Marat Izmailov scored in the 76th minute to help Sporting win the Portuguese Supercup with a 1-0 win over Porto on Saturday. Porto edged Sporting for the Portuguese Liga championship last

<< Blackburn player released from hospital
Middlesbrough, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy was released from the hospital Saturday after collapsing during a 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough on the opening day in the English Premier League. McCarthy hit head

<< Sanchez knocks in five as Bucs rout Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddy Sanchez had a huge day as he went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run, two runs scored and a career-high five RBI to help the Pittsburgh Pirates crush the San Francisco Giants, 13-3, in the second

Brazilian international joins English club >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - English Premier League club Chelsea has completed a deal to acquire Brazil defender Alex from PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands. Alex, 25, helped PSV win three straight Dutch Eredivisie titles. His

Brazil defender completes move to Chelsea >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - English Premier League club Chelsea has completed a deal to acquire Brazil defender Alex from PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands. Alex, 25, helped PSV win three straight Dutch Eredivisie titles. His

PSV Eindhoven loses defender >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - English Premier League club Chelsea has completed a deal to acquire Brazil defender Alex from PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands. Alex, 25, helped PSV win three straight Dutch Eredivisie titles. His

Kanaan makes late race pass for IndyCar win >>
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Kanaan was strong all day, but still needed to make a late race pass of A.J. Foyt IV to capture Saturday night's Meijer Indy 300 IndyCar race at the Kentucky Speedway. The No.11 Andretti Green Racing

Federer to battle Djokovic in Rogers Masters final >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Roger Federer defeated Czech Radek Stepanek in the semifinal round of the $2.45 million Rogers Masters -- the sixth of nine Masters Series events this year. The

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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