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02/28/2009 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Biffle survived a crash-filled Sam's Town 300 and held off his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards in an overtime finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday to end a 76-race winless streak in the Nationwide Series.
After leading 46 consecutive laps, Biffle ran out of fuel and coasted into the pits on lap 146. He fell one lap behind after his stop. Biffle, however, rebounded quickly and was back in front when his other Roush Fenway teammate David Ragan crashed while he held the lead during a round of green-flag stops on lap 169.
A wreck involving Mike Bliss and Denny Hamlin in the closing laps setup the green-white-checkered finish. Hamlin cut a tire, which slowed his progress. Bliss then slammed into the back of Hamlin, putting him into the wall.
On the final restart, Edwards moved ahead of Jason Leffler for second after Leffler ran out of fuel. Edwards then challenged Biffle for the lead, but could not make the winning pass during the final two laps.
"I ran out of gas on the restart going into turn one," Biffle said. "I think they said (Leffler) ran out of gas also. I just kept it on the bottom, and the fuel pressure came back. I tried to block Carl going down the back, but I couldn't do it. So I just stayed on the throttle on the outside and my car was just so good. I was able to pass him back."
Biffle, who led a race-high 86 laps, beat Edwards to the finish line by 0.391 seconds for his 19th career Nationwide victory, but his first since February 25, 2006 at California.
Despite a cut tire just before the 100-lap mark, which put him a lap down, Edwards moved back into winning contention in the late-stages. His second- place finish gave Roush Fenway a one-two finish at Las Vegas.
"I drove in there as deep as I thought was reasonable, and Jason Hedlesky, my spotter, was telling me, 'He's still there, he's still there,' and I'm thinking, 'he's got me'," Edwards said. "I wanted to keep my leg in it, but I thought I would wreck him. So I did the best I could."
Brian Vickers finished third, followed by Leffler and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Rookie drivers Michael McDowell, Brendan Gaughan, a Las Vegas native, Justin Allgaier and Scott Lagasse Jr. were sixth through ninth, respectively. Jeff Burton completed the top-10.
Edwards moved into the lead in the series championship standings. He now holds a 48-point advantage over Vickers after the first three races of the season.
The almost three-hour event featured 12 cautions for a track record 60 laps.
Two of this year's favorites to win the series title were involved in crashes that now have them behind in the early season point standings.
Kyle Busch made hard contact into the wall on lap 22. Busch dove beneath Kevin Harvick in an attempt to take the lead from him, but Busch lost control of his car as it skidded up the track and bounced off the wall.
"It was just a mistake on my part battling for the lead that early in the race," Busch said, "It was 100 percent my fault trying to race for the lead."
Busch ended up finishing 39th and dropped to fifth in points (-109).
Scott Speed's day at Las Vegas ended early when he rammed into Busch's car. Speed, in his first career Nationwide start, led the opening two laps before Harvick passed him for the top position. He won the pole earlier in the day, becoming the ninth driver in the series to qualify first in his debut.
The incident forced NASCAR to halt the race 10 minutes for track clean-up efforts.
Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski made contact on the seventh lap. Bliss got turned sideways, while Keselowski suffered damage to the left front panel on his car.
Keselowski's troubles continued on lap 16 when he cut a tire and slammed into the wall. He returned 35 laps later and finished 27th.
"I don't know what I could have done differently," Keselowski said. "It's just the way these cars are. This is a great Chevrolet and it's tore up. We've had three great race cars this season and just can't seem to close the deal."
After finishing third in the Nationwide championship standings last year, Keselowski currently sits 22nd in points (-244).
The race was stopped for another 10 minutes on lap 92 to clean up the mess from Robert Richardson Jr.'s badly damaged car. D.J. Kennington bumped Richardson from behind, sending him into the wall. Rookie Michael Annett also was involved in the incident.
Just after the restart, Jeff Burton got loose coming out of turn four. Burton slid into the wall and collected Harvick's car in the process. Harvick suffered heavy damage to his car after running in the top-five during the first half of the race.
"(Burton) wasn't all that good, and he just got up there, and got himself in a bad spot and spun out," Harvick said. "Unfortunately we were the ones that hit him...We had a car capable of winning the race."
After lengthy repairs, Harvick returned to the track 54 laps down and settled for 29th-place finish.
Steve Wallace, David Green, Brandon Whitt and Stanton Barrett were also involved in the wreck.
The next Nationwide race is scheduled for Saturday, March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
<< Williams rolls to second title in as many weeks
Acapulco, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Venus Williams powered to her second
championship in as many weeks as the top-seeded American blitzed second-seeded
Italian Flavia Pennetta, 6-1, 6-2 to win the Mexican Open.
One week ago Williams
<< Rockets waive G Head
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets waived seldom-used
shooting guard Luther Head on Saturday.
The 6-foot-3 Head appeared in just 22 games this season after being sidelined
since January 10 with a right foot injury.
<< Day of Mourning: Heat to retire 33
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On Saturday the Miami Heat announced plans to
retire center Alonzo Mourning's jersey, which will mark the first time in
franchise history that the team has done something of the sort.
During a halftime
<< Report: Thunder's Durant out 7-14 days with sprained ankle
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is
reportedly going to miss seven to 14 days with a Grade Two right ankle
sprain, according to a report in the Oklahoman.
Durant suffered the injury during
Canadiens win fourth straight in toppling Sharks >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaroslav Halak made 45 saves and helped back
the suddenly surging Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win against San Jose at the
Bell Centre.
Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist each while Jos
Rangers erupt for six goals, pound struggling Avs >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Gomez posted a goal and two assists as
the dormant New York offense, spurred by a four-goal first period, awakened to
lead the Rangers to a 6-1 win over Colorado at Madison Square Garden.
Nikolai Zher
Danis records another shutout as Isles top Sabres >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yann Danis stopped 31 shots to secure his
second consecutive home shutout and Sean Bergenheim scored twice as the New
York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0, at Nassau Coliseum.
Jack Hillen, Kyle
Kubina's pair, including OT winner, sends Leafs over Sens >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pavel Kubina scored twice, including the
winner 33 seconds into overtime, as the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to edge
the Ottawa Senators, 4-3, at Scotiabank Place.
Kubina also netted the tying goal i
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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