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03/15/2010 - Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seven months after suffering back injuries in a practice crash at Sonoma, CA, Will Power made an impressive comeback in the IZOD IndyCar Series by winning the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 in Brazil.
Power turned in a gutsy performance in the series' season-opener and first race held in a South American country. The 29-year-old Aussie avoided a five- car pileup on the opening lap and then endured rainy conditions for a majority of the event before passing Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead in the closing minutes to claim his second career IndyCar victory.
"It was probably the most mixed up race that I have ever been in, but it created an opportunity for me to come back through the field and end up winning the race," Power said. "I think it was just a really good day for racing. If you were fast you could pass, because there is such a good track layout here. I'm pretty sure it was an exciting race for the fans."
Power undoubtedly had a dramatic day from start to finish on the Sao Paulo street circuit.
For the first time in series history, both qualifying and the race were held on the same day. A bumpy surface and slick concrete along the front straightaway led to unsafe race conditions and forced Indy Racing League officials to postpone Saturday's schedule qualifying until the following day. Track personnel made improvements in time for Sunday morning's "warm-up" practice session.
Power missed the final practice due to a faulty gearbox, but after his Penske team managed to correct the issue in time for qualifying, he managed to earn the fifth starting position.
By the time Power parked into victory lane, his hands were severely blistered from driving on one of the most physically demanding courses.
"I was really proud of my guys for the job they did to get us ready for qualifying," Power said. "They really were great all day. It was a long day with qualifying and the race all in just a few hours, but we were able to come out alright in the end."
Vitor Meira almost enjoyed the same triumphant return as Power did in Brazil. Meira also sustained a season-ending injury from a horrifying crash in last year's Indianapolis 500. With a third-place run, he was the highest finisher among the seven Brazilians who competed in front of their home crowd.
"It couldn't be much better than that," Meira said. "I think Will can relate to it with a back injury and all that. It gets pretty uncertain at some times and having a team behind you making sure that the seat is available, it makes a big difference during the recovery."
Prior to the start of the 2009 season, Power left KV Racing Technology and joined Penske to serve as substitute driver for Helio Castroneves until his federal tax evasion problems were resolved. Power drove Castroneves' car to a sixth-place finish in last year's season-opener in St. Petersburg, FL.
When Castroneves was acquitted and showed up in time for the second race of the season in Long Beach, CA, Power moved into a third Penske entry and ran a limited schedule from there. But Power continued to be one of the hottest drivers in IndyCar with sensational performances at Long Beach, Indianapolis, Toronto and Edmonton, where he recorded his first series win.
This year, Power joins Ryan Briscoe and Castroneves in Penske's stable of full-time drivers. The team has not been a three-car operation since 1994 when Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy finished 1-2-3, respectively in points.
With Power's full-time status, Penske will be Chip Ganassi Racing's biggest threat in IndyCar this season. Reigning series champion Dario Franchitti and 2008 titleholder Scott Dixon are considered as the top-two contenders for this year's title, but after winning in Brazil, Power moves right up there with both Ganassi drivers in the championship ranks.
<< Ovechkin suspended two games for "reckless" hit on Campbell
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has
been suspended two games without pay for his hit on Chicago Blackhawks
defenseman Brian Campbell.
The incident, which the NHL called "a reckless hit" in
<< Lions get CB Houston from Falcons
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions acquired cornerback Chris
Houston from the Atlanta Falcons for a pair of draft picks on Monday.
Detroit gave up its sixth-round choice in the 2010 NFL Draft in addition to a
conditional s
<< Lamely rallies for first PGA Tour title
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Lamely fired a six-under 66
in the final round Monday to come from behind and win the rain-delayed Puerto
Rico Open.
Lamely, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour, completed the event
<< Beckham's World Cup absence confirmed
Turku, Finland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England midfielder David Beckham underwent
successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon on Monday in Finland, and
it was confirmed by Dr. Sakari Orava that he will miss this summer's World Cup
in Sout
Packers re-sign T Tauscher >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers on Monday re-signed
veteran offensive tackle Mark Tauscher to a two-year contract.
The Wisconsin product has spent his entire 10-year career with the Packers,
who selected the 6-f
Djokovic sneaks into fourth round at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 2 Novak Djokovic barely survived
his third-round match Monday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP
World Tour Masters event.
The second-seeded Djokovic outlasted 25th-seeded German Philip
Giants, Jets to both host games opening weekend >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants and New York Jets will
both host games at their new home, Meadowlands Stadium, on the opening weekend
of the 2010 regular season.
The Giants will play Sunday afternoon, September 12,
Seahawks ink TE Baker >>
Kirkland, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks on Monday added depth at
the tight end position by signing veteran Chris Baker.
Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 30-year-old Baker spent last season with the P
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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