Gordon on pole after rain prevents qualifying

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/10/2007 - Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Intermittent showers prevented Nextel Cup drivers from qualifying at the Watkins Glen International road course and per NASCAR rules Jeff Gordon will start on the pole in Sunday's Centurion Boats at the Glen.

It will be the eighth time this season that the No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has started up front. Gordon has won two of the seven and finished in the top-five on all seven occasions.

Starting alongside Gordon will be Denny Hamlin who's No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet is second in owner points.

Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton will make up row two.

Five races remain before the "Chase for the Nextel Cup" with four drivers fighting for the final two spots. Just 128 points separate 14th-place Ryan Newman from 11th-place Martin Truex Jr. In between the two are 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch holding down the final spot and Dale Earnhardt Jr. just seven points out.

Watching these four drivers should be an interesting "race-within-a-race." But none of the four driver are particularly good at road-course events and likely won't get much television time.

When talking camera time at a road course, the first name that comes to mind is Gordon. The four-time Nextel Cup champion has won four times in 14 Watkins Glen starts with an average finish of 10th.

Kevin Harvick, ninth overall, has one win and four top-10s in six starts. His average finish is a very good 8.0.

Tony Stewart has an even better record than Harvick at the New York road course. The No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has made eight starts, winning three times. His average finish is a stellar 6.8. His 2005 win was most impressive leading 83 of 92 laps.

And then there is Juan Pablo Montoya. The Bogota, Colombia native has made two NASCAR road course starts and won them both. Montoya's first foray into a NASCAR road race was in the Busch Series at Mexico City. He won that in relatively easy fashion. He then took on Gordon and Stewart at Infineon Raceway. Although he qualified horribly (32nd), he flew through the field and eventually made the winning pass around Jamie McMurray with eight laps remaining.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Stewart (fifth), Carl Edwards (sixth), Jimmie Johnson (seventh), Harvick (ninth), Truex Jr. (11th), Kurt Busch (13th), Earnhardt Jr. (14th) and Newman (15th).

Among those going home without attempting to qualify were Boris Said and Marcos Ambrose.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 2 p.m. (et).

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.