Burton inherits Nationwide pole

Autoracing Betting Lines

02/22/2008 - Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Burton will be on the pole for Saturday night's Stater Bros. 300 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (formerly called the California Speedway). The No.29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver will start on the pole because officials have cancelled Saturday's qualifying session.

Rain forced the cancellation of almost all on-track activities on Friday, forcing NASCAR officials to use Saturday morning and afternoon for practice.

Burton was handed the pole because his team won the owner's championship in 2007 despite Carl Edwards winning the driver title. Burton and Scott Wimmer shared the ride in the No.29 Chevrolet and together they score more points than the No.60 Roush Fenway Racing team.

Tony Stewart will start alongside Burton in the No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Edwards and Clint Bowyer will make up row two.

When you look at the top-10 standings in the Nationwide Series, one name pops out at you. No not Stewart, who won the season opener at Daytona for the third time. Not Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers or Matt Kenseth all of whom hold top-five positions after the Camping World 300 at Daytona.

No, the name that jumps off the page is Bryan Clauson. The 18-year-old Carmichael, CA native drove the No.41 Chip Ganassi Dodge to a sixth-place finish. He was the only non-Sprint Cup driver in the top-10. And he is just a rookie with six career starts in the series. He will start 16th on the grid tomorrow.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. (et).

Onlinecasion Autoracing Betting News

<< Isles ink Hunter to five-year deal
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders signed forward Trent Hunter to a five-year contract extension on Friday. Hunter, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has eight goals and 24 assists in

<< Indiana parts ways with Sampson
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana University reached a financial settlement with men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, who announced his resignation Friday in the wake of NCAA accusations of five rules violations, accordi

<< Red Bulls waive midfielder/forward Doe
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York waived midfielder/forward Francis Doe on Friday. Doe, 22, had two goals and one assist in eight games - four starts - in 2007. The 5-8, 150-pound Liberian was signed by New York in August

<< Eagles' Patterson arrested
Cherry Hill, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson was arrested last Saturday and charged with marijuana possession in Evesham, New Jersey, according to the Camden Courier Post. The newspaper reported

<< Rain cancels qualifying at Fontana
Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. will start from the pole for Saturday afternoon's San Bernadino County 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at the newly named Auto Club Speedway at Southern California (formerly California Speedwa

Bobcats' Wallace leaves with injury >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace was carted off the court on a stretcher Friday night during the third quarter of a home game against the Sacramento Kings after taking an elbow to the face from Kings c

Magic make Sixers disappear >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hedo Turkoglu scored a season-high 31 points as Orlando routed Philadelphia, 115-99, at Amway Arena. Turkoglu finished 7-of-11 from three-point range for the Magic, who outscored the Sixers 45-9 fr

Dunleavy leads Indiana to victory over New Jersey >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Dunleavy registered 34 points to lead Indiana over New Jersey, 113-103, at Conseco Fieldhouse. Travis Diener had 19 points and dished out six assists for the Pacers, who snapped a three-game los

D-Backs ink Nixon to minor league deal >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks signed veteran outfielder Trot Nixon to a minor league contract, the club announced Friday. Nixon, 33, spent the 2007 season with the Cleveland Indians after spending the first

Colorado releases G Silas from team >>
Boulder, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado sophomore guard Xavier Silas was kicked off the men's basketball team for unspecified reasons Friday. Silas will remain on scholarship for the remainder of the 2007-08 academic year,

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.