Kenseth wins Phoenix pole; Stewart, Edwards are 8th, 9th

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/12/2011 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kenseth won the pole for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, while Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, the top-two drivers in Sprint Cup Series points, grabbed the eighth and ninth starting positions, respectively, in qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.

Kenseth, the second-to-last driver to make his qualifying attempt in the 46- car field, turned a lap at 137.101 mph around the newly repaved and reconfigured one-mile track. The Roush Fenway Racing driver claimed his third pole of the season and the seventh of his Sprint Cup career.

"The car had a lot of grip, and I thought it was really good in [turns] three and four," Kenseth said. "These guys have done a great job. I'm certainly not known for being a good qualifier. My cars have been really fast. [Crew chief] Jimmy [Fennig] and this whole team have done a really good job giving me fast race cars this year."

A.J. Allmendinger earned the outside pole with his lap at 136.446 mph. It's the third front row appearance for Allmendinger in four races at Phoenix. His Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Marcos Ambrose, qualified third.

Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five.

The new racing surface at Phoenix has made it very challenging for teams so far this weekend. In practices and qualifying, drivers have dealt with loose race cars, and track conditions have rapidly changed throughout the day.

"I hope it stays like it is right now to be honest," Stewart said. "I feel like we're better in this scenario than the other guys. It is a fine line, but at the same time, it makes the drivers do their job, and that's what I like."

Jamie McMurray took the sixth spot, followed by David Reutimann. Kasey Kahne qualified tenth.

Edwards enters the season's penultimate race with just a three-point lead over Stewart, who has won the last two races -- Martinsville and Phoenix. Edwards won last year's fall event at Phoenix.

Kevin Harvick will start 27th. Harvick is currently 33 points behind Edwards. Kenseth trails his Roush Fenway teammate by 38 points.

In his first race back since being suspended from last Sunday's event at Texas, Kyle Busch qualified 34th -- the worst among the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup field. Busch will have to start from the rear of the field in the 312-lap race due to an engine change his team made during Friday's practice sessions.

The race is scheduled to start just after 3:00 p.m. (et).

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.