Power nips Dixon for IndyCar pole at Iowa

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/19/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power from Team Penske won the pole for Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 IZOD IndyCar Series after beating Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon by the slimmest of margins in qualifying at Iowa Speedway.

Power, currently second in points, recorded a four-lap average of 181.338 m.p.h. around the .875-mile track for his fourth pole of the season, but his first on an oval. He also gave Penske its seventh straight pole.

"It's fantastic," said Power, who claimed his sixth career IndyCar pole. "It's the best place to start the race tomorrow. It's going to be a long day. It's a tight track around here, and there's always a lot of traffic. I just want to have a good result on an oval, and I'm looking for it here."

The Aussie held a sizeable points lead after finishing no worse than fourth, including two victories, in the first four road course races this season. He has finished no better than eighth in the last three oval races -- Kansas, Indianapolis and Texas.

Power was only 0.002 seconds quicker than Dixon, who will start on the outside pole.

"In qualifying, we did very well sitting in P2, and the four-lap average was so close to Will Power," Dixon said. "We barely missed it. We will try to improve even more and hopefully get some points for the championship, but I am very happy with [qualifying]."

Marco Andretti qualified third, followed by Helio Castroneves and current points leader Dario Franchitti, who won this race in 2007 and '09. He missed Iowa in 2008 when he was competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

Franchitti, the defending series champion, enters the race with just a two- point advantage over Power.

Alex Tagliani, Takuma Sato, Ryan Briscoe, who won two weeks ago at Texas, Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon, the 2008 race winner at Iowa, will start sixth through 10th, respectively.

Milka Duno spun and crashed hard into the turn two wall during her qualifying attempt. Duno was not injured and was cleared by medical officials to compete in Sunday's 250-lap race, which is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. (et).

Wwwwildjacks Autoracing Betting News

<< Peavy's shutout lifts White Sox over Nationals
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jake Peavy had his best outing in a Chicago White Sox uniform, as the right-hander tossed the fourth shutout of his career in a slim 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals. Peavy (6-5), whose earned-ru

<< Jin Jeong cruises to British Am title
East Lothian, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korea's Jin Jeong captured a 5 & 4 win over Scotland's James Byrne in the 36-hole final at the British Amateur Championship on Saturday. In the 125-year history of the event, Jeong became th

<< Saints ship OL Brown to Redskins
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have traded left tackle Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins in exchange for an undisclosed pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Brown, who was a restricted free agent, signed his

<< Report: Saints agree to ship OL Brown to Redskins
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have reportedly agreed to trade left tackle Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a conditional draft pick. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayu

<< Broadaway takes one-shot lead in Arkansas
Fort Smith, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Broadaway carded a five-under 65 on Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after 54 holes of the Fort Smith Classic. Broadaway finished three rounds at Hardscrabble Country Club at 11-under-par 199. H

Falcons ink third-round pick Johnson >>
Flowery Branch, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Falcons on Saturday signed guard Mike Johnson. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Johnson was the team's third-round pick (98th overall) in this year's draft. The 6-foot-6, 304-pounde

Pedroia lifts Red Sox over Dodgers >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Pedroia drove in the game-winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Boston Red Sox edged the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, in the second installment of a three-game interle

Edwards wins caution-filled Nationwide race at Road America >>
Elkhart, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards finally performed his celebratory back flip from his car for the first time this NASCAR season after winning Saturday's inaugural Bucyrus 200 Nationwide Series race at Road America. Edwards d

Twins rally to win wild slugfest against Phillies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young drove in the go-ahead run during a three-run 11th inning, as Minnesota rallied from a pair of five-run deficits to top Philadelphia, 13-10, in the middle contest of a three-game interle

Hur leads by one in New Jersey >>
Galloway, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - M.J. Hur fired a seven-under 64 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Hur, who collected her lone LPGA Tour win last year, finished 36 holes at 11- under-par 131

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.