Wheldon wins third straight IndyCar opener

Autoracing Betting Lines

03/25/2007 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Wheldon captured Saturday's XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 season opener. It was the third consecutive win for Wheldon at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The No.10 Target Chip Ganassi driver took the checkered flag 6.4993 seconds ahead of his Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon.

The victory was the 12th of Wheldon's IndyCar career.

"It's fantastic over everybody at Target and Chip Ganassi Racing," said Wheldon in Victory Lane. "Its a fabulous way to open the season."

After a rain-delay Wheldon, the pole winner, led the field to the green flag to begin the 2007 IndyCar season. Wheldon and his primary rival Sam Hornish Jr. quickly jumped out to a lead over third-place Dixon and the remainder of the field.

They stayed one-two until a caution flag on lap seven for a stopped Alex Barron. Barron appeared to have a fuel pressure problem. The field split on strategies with Wheldon and Hornish Jr. staying out but a number of others taking the opportunity to refuel.

Starting at lap 18, Dixon began to reel in the two leaders and he joined the top pair about two seconds ahead of the field by lap 25.

Wheldon continued to post laps at about 211 m.p.h. and his pace was too much even for Hornish Jr. and Dixon. By lap 35 Wheldon extended his lead to more than one second over the three-time series champion Hornish Jr. and two seconds over Dixon.

Helio Castroneves sudden was way off the pace, more than 10 m.p.h. below Wheldon's pace as the field hit lap 42. Two laps later Castroneves resumed lapping over 205 m.p.h., but he was more than 14 seconds behind Wheldon.

Wheldon made his first stop on lap 51 giving the lead up to Tony Kanaan. After all the pit stops had cycled through Wheldon was still the race leader but now by almost three seconds.

Marco Andretti brought his car down pit road on lap 53, an unexpected stop. The youngster got out of the car, his chance at a win gone.

"I can't tell you what's wrong," said Andretti. "It was undriveable, I've never been so scared in my life in an IndyCar."

A rain cloud moved through forcing officials to wave the yellow flag on lap 66. The race restarted on lap 76 after the moisture quickly evaporated.

Wheldon, Hornish Jr. and Dixon again showed their superiority opening up another big lead on the field until a caution flag on lap 92. The caution was for a three-car crash which sent A.J. Foyt IV, Kosuke Matsuura and Jeff Simmons to the garage. None of the drivers were injured, but their cars were destroyed. It started when Simmons spun out and collected the other two drivers.

At the mid-point, Wheldon had led 94 of 100 laps. But on a pit stop just after they cleaned the track from the three-car crash, Wheldon stalled his car and had to restart in ninth place. By lap 119, Wheldon regained the lead from his teammate Dixon.

The teammates lead over Hornish Jr. grew to more than three seconds through 135 laps. The gap between "Team Ganassi" and Hornish Jr. was over five seconds at lap 145.

There would be one final pit stop for drivers in hopes to improve their cars to compete with Wheldon and Dixon. Hornish Jr. was the first to pit on lap 153. It was a clean seven-second stop with no mistakes.

Two laps later Wheldon came in for a nine-second stop, but at least he didn't stall it this time. After the stop, Wheldon took no prisoners. By lap 165 he led his teammate by 4.8 seconds and Hornish Jr. by 7.2 seconds.

Dixon dominated the rest of the way, winning without challenge by more than six seconds.

Hornish Jr., Vitor Meira and Kanaan completed the top-five. The two women in the race, Sarah Fisher and Danica Patrick finished 11th and 14th. respectively.

The second race of the 2007 IndyCar season is scheduled for Sunday, April 1st on the streets of St. Petersburg, FL.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

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