Power looking for his fifth road/street course win in 2010

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/20/2010 - Edmonton, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, July 25. Race: Honda Indy Edmonton. Site: City Centre Raceway. Track: 1.96-mile, 14-turn temporary street/airport course. Start Time: 6:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 95. Miles: 186.2. 2009 winner: Will Power. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

For the second straight week, the IZOD IndyCar Series runs in Canada with the Honda Indy Edmonton at City Centre Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. This will be third year the series competes at the 1.96-mile, 14-turn temporary street/airport course.

After his victory in last Sunday's race at Toronto, Team Penske's Will Power increased his lead to 42 points over Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver and defending series champion Dario Franchitti. Power also won earlier this month at Watkins Glen, NY.

Once again, Power will have the opportunity to win a series record-tying third consecutive race. The Australian driver won the first two races this season -- Sao Paulo, Brazil and St. Petersburg, FL. If Power takes Edmonton, he will join Kenny Brack (1998), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Scott Dixon (2007) as those drivers who recorded three consecutive victories.

"I believe if you're put in that position, you should be winning," Power said. "You're given the equipment to win. I've been given a full-time ride in one of the best teams in the series. To repay them, you've got to win."

Power notched his first career IndyCar win in last year's race at Edmonton. He started on the pole and led 90 of 95 laps, relinquishing the top position only when he pitted. Power held a one-second lead over his teammate Helio Castroneves before the race ended under caution for an incident involving Tomas Scheckter with less than two laps remaining.

All four of Power's wins this year have come on road/street courses. After Edmonton, the Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, CA road courses are the next two races on the schedule before the series concludes its season with Chicagoland, Kentucky, Motegi, Japan and Homestead, FL -- all of which are 1.5-mile ovals.

"I know it's going to be a tough championship to win," Power said. "I was aware coming into the season that I had lack of experience on mile-and-a-half ovals. I think the only place it really showed was Kansas, where I was very cautious and just finished the race [12th]. Everywhere else, I felt like I could have challenged for the win.

"I want to win an oval race before the year's out. I've been knocking on the door, so I think that may come."

Dixon won the inaugural race at Edmonton in 2008, the same year he clinched his second series title. The Ganassi driver currently sits third in points (-78).

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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