Happy days are here again for Harvick

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/16/2010 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Harvick was enduring a miserable season at this point in 2009, as he sat 23rd in the Sprint Cup Series point standings. One year later, "Happy Harvick" is smiling more than ever after winning his third race of the season and becoming the first driver to lock down one of the 12 positions for this year's championship Chase.

Harvick's win at Michigan on Sunday was his first on a non-restrictor plate track since November 2006. Harvick was winless in NASCAR's top-tier series during the 2008 and '09 seasons before his 115-race drought came to an end in April at Talladega. He also won in July at Daytona.

With three races remaining before the Chase begins next month at New Hampshire, Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing teammates, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, are in the top-12 in points. Bowyer finished 13th at Michigan and reclaimed the coveted 12th spot. After his disappointing 28th-place run, Mark Martin is 13th and trails Bowyer by 35 points. Burton holds the seventh position.

Harvick has been the points leader since the spring race at Richmond. He now is 680 points ahead of Bowyer, a margin that allowed him to clinch a spot in the Chase after Michigan. The points margin between Harvick and second-place Jeff Gordon is 293.

Harvick's phenomenal season has been the highlight of Richard Childress Racing's resurrection in 2010.

"I think the reason for it is we were so damn bad last year," Harvick said of the resurgence. "I think it's just a matter of everybody was embarrassed last year. We've really been running pretty well since probably the last six or eight weeks of last year. It didn't just happen today.

"One of the best things that we all went through last year was the fact that we I realized everybody didn't like losing as much as I did, and we all wanted to achieve the same goals. We were headed in the right direction to do those things. I think it's just coincidental timing."

Team owner Richard Childress would agree.

"We got way off last year, started coming back towards the end of the year," Childress said. "Kevin and I talked. We knew a lot of things we wanted to change, work on, fix. We fixed a lot of them. I'm just happy to have him back here for three more years. We're gonna be contenders, for sure."

After a disappointing 19th-place finish in points last year, it looked like Harvick was on his way out of RCR at the conclusion of this season, when his contract with the team was set to expire.

Harvick, who has driven the No.29 car for RCR in Cup since replacing Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt's fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500, signed a contract extension with Childress in May.

Childress and Harvick have scheduled a press conference at their race shop in Welcome, NC on Tuesday. The duo reportedly will announce that Budweiser will sponsor Harvick's No.29 team, starting in 2011. His present sponsor, Shell/Pennzoil, is leaving RCR at season's end and taking its sponsorship to Kurt Busch's new No.22 ride at Penske Racing next year.

As good as he's been, Harvick has not cornered the market on winning, and his main goal right now is to pick up wins and additional bonus points before the start of the Chase. Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin lead the series with five victories each, though Johnson has not won since the last weekend in June at New Hampshire, and Hamlin hasn't driven into Victory Lane since two months ago at Michigan. Harvick is next in line with his three wins.

"Do you think it would go over well if we went on vacation? Probably not," Harvick said. "Right now, we're in a fortunate position to be doing what we're doing. I've been in that 12th, 13th-place battle and it sucks, to be honest with you. You can't sleep at night, and you can't do anything to get your mind off of that.

"We're going to enjoy it. We're going to go and race hard, and we're going to try to gain 30 more bonus points. Hopefully we can have a couple things that we can try. For sure now, whether it's engines, parts, pieces, over the next three weeks, try to get a little bit better."

Hamlin and Johnson could clinch their spots in the Chase after next Saturday night's race at Bristol.

Harvick has emerged as the favorite to win this year's Chase in some circles, but that's a dangerous line of thinking based on recent events.

Last year, Tony Stewart won three races and held a sizeable points lead heading into the regular season-ending race at Michigan. But Johnson dominated the Chase by winning four races and easily capturing his record fourth consecutive Cup title. Stewart finished sixth in points, with one win in the Chase at Kansas.

In 2008, Kyle Busch won eight races before entering the Chase, but Busch's title hopes quickly went up in smoke after he experienced engine trouble in the first two races of the playoffs.

Harvick has a firm grasp on that history.

"I think over the last four years, you can look at the 48 [Johnson's team], and they've done the same thing and won the championship," he said. "Until you beat the guy that's won the last four championships, we're fast enough to beat them, but the circumstances and all the things have to go your way over the last 10 weeks. It's not about a whole season anymore; it's about 10 weeks."

Harvick winning his first Cup championship is by no means out of the realm of possibility, but it would be a stunning upset if he dethrones Johnson's dynasty.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

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