03/04/2007 - Mexico City, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Montoya won Sunday's Telcel- Motorola 200 Busch Series event held in Mexico City, Mexico. The No.42 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge driver crossed the finish line 0.498 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin.
The victory was Montoya's first ever in a NASCAR event.
Scott Pruett, also with Chip Ganassi Racing, brought the field to the green flag for 80 laps of road course racing. Montoya jumped past Carlos Contreras in the first turn and took off after Pruett.
The pair of teammates quickly opened up a one-second lead over third-place Contreras. But Montoya, not known for his racing patience, didn't sit behind his teammate for long.
The Columbian "out-broke" Pruett at the start of lap 3 into turn 1 for the lead. By lap four Montoya owned almost one second on Pruett and 2.459 seconds on Contreras' Dodge.
Montoya made his first pit stop on lap 10 as most of the field came in early to make changes and set their late-race fuel strategy. During the stops, both defending champion Hamlin and 2005 pole winner Jorge Goeters took turns at the top of the charts.
But Montoya was posting the fastest laps and on lap 22, when everyone except for German Quiroga Jr. had completed their first run down pit road, the No.42 Dodge was in control. He was more than 11 seconds ahead of Pruett and Hamlin.
On the first caution flag, Quiroga Jr. pitted giving the lead back to Montoya. The bad news, however, Pruett and Hamlin were right on his rear bumper. One interesting name that cracked the top-10 as they went past the 30-lap mark was Adrian Fernandez.
Montoya continued to rebuild his lead which was eliminated by the first caution flag. It was 1.744 seconds on lap 32 and 2.984 seconds at the mid- point of the 80-lap event.
The big decision on pit road for all the crew chiefs - when to make the final stop. The cars could go about 35 laps on fuel, but if the caution flag came out a few times, cars could reach the checkered flag from just past the midway point of the race. So teams began to pit as early as lap 41. P.J. Jones was first, but more cars on each proceeding lap. Ron Fellows, the last non- American to win a Busch race, was one of the earliest to stop.
Montoya pitted on lap 45, after posting the fastest lap on the track, and came out in fifth place. But his pit crew had a problem with the fuel can and they only got about seven gallons into the car on the stop. He would have to make a third pit stop and likely have little chance to win the race.
"It was probably a $0.15 clamp that came loose," said Brad Parrott, crew chief on the No.42 Dodge.
Waiting to take advantage of the Chip Ganassi pit crew error was Pruett Hamlin, Brent Sherman and Carl Edwards second through fifth, respectively. Montoya's lead was 13.522 seconds.
A few laps later, on lap 53, Montoya returned to pit road, fixed the problem, refilled the tank, and came back on the track in 21st place.
Could one of the best open-wheel drivers in the world make it back to the front?
He would have 25 laps to try.
On the lead, Pruett, Hamlin, Edwards and Boris Said were first through fourth. Said was doing it despite having broken the shifter early in the race and passed Edwards for third place.
Meanwhile, Montoya was 19th after one green flag lap and 12th with 21 laps to go.
Brad Coleman brought out the third caution flag of the afternoon on lap 60. The flag was the only thing that could slow down Montoya who was up to ninth place.
The green flag dropped with 17 laps remaining. Montoya passed two cars coming into the first turn (including friend Fernandez). He took fifth away from Greg Biffle on lap 64. Then another caution flag flew for a Marcos Ambrose spin.
Edwards in fourth is fighting for a series championship and wanted no part of Montoya giving up his position on lap 67. At the same time Said passed Hamlin for second. Still on the same lap, Montoya cut inside of Hamlin in turn eight and cleanly took over third place. A stunning move.
But another caution flag, for a J.J. Yeley/David Gilliland crash again slowed Montoya's march to the front.
Once again on the restart with nine laps to go Montoya ducked to the bottom of the track in turn one and beat Said for second place. That left only his teammate Pruett between himself and the win.
With eight laps to go, Pruett and Montoya were side-by-side going into turn 1 and they hit sending Pruett into a spin. Montoya gathered himself, cut across the chicane and kept the lead. Hamlin took over second with Said into third. Pruett fell all the way to 17th place.
It appeared that Montoya had the line and Pruett chopped down on him.
Montoya's left-front fender had some damage, but it seemed that the Dodge was still in one piece. The green flag dropped with five laps remaining.
Montoya took off, but the defending champion Hamlin had a good car too. Still more caution flags set up a two-lap shootout between the open-wheel superstar and the young rising Nextel Cup star.
Montoya got a great restart, but Hamlin wouldn't go away. Still the 1999 CART champion, 2001 Indianapolis 500 champion and the winner of the seven Formula One wins was not going to be denied. He opened up a solid margin, made no mistakes and took the checkered flag for his first NASCAR victory.
"I felt really bad (about the accident with Pruett)," said Montoya. "He kind of stayed wide so I went to the inside and I had no where to go."
"Of all the people to take you at...your teammate," said a disgusted Pruett. "That was just no good, low, dirty driving...It's just so disappointing."
Said, Edwards and Pruett completed the top-five.
With Kevin Harvick idle this weekend, Edwards takes over the Busch Series points lead.
The next race in the series is set for Saturday March 10th at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
<< Wizards win in final seconds
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Arenas hit three free throws with
one-tenth of a second left, lifting the Washington Wizards over the Golden
State Warriors, 107-106, in one of the most controversial finishes of the NBA
season.
<< Munteanu's brace puts Energie 2 points clear of relegation
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the battle for relegation heating up
in the German Bundesliga, Energie Cottbus earned three important points at
10th-placed Borussia Dortmund Sunday to move two points clear of relegation.
Curren
<< Hawks stun George Washington
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Whitney Ffrench scored all 14 of her points
in the second-half as Saint Joseph's rallied to edge No. 8 George Washington,
57-55, in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals.
Jenna Loschiavo drained a three wi
<< Royals' Grudzielanek to undergo surgery
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Royals second baseman Mark
Grudzielanek will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Monday for a
medial meniscus cartilage tear.
The procedure, which will take place in Kansas
Gordon nets 48 points as Bulls edge Bucks in OT >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Gordon poured in a career-high 48 points
and Chicago erased an 18-point, fourth quarter deficit to stun Milwaukee,
126-121, in overtime at the Bradley Center.
Gordon, whose 20 points in the final
Nabokov, Sharks blank Stars >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov stopped 26 shots for his fifth
shutout of the season to give the San Jose Sharks a 4-0 win over the Dallas
Stars at American Airlines Center.
Joe Pavelski scored two goals while Curtis Brow
Hansbrough leads Tar Heels to win over Duke >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Hansbrough posted game-highs with 26
points and 17 rebounds as North Carolina outdueled Duke, 86-72, at the Smith
Center, giving head coach Roy Williams his 100th win at the school.
Reyshawn Terry
Lens wins while Nantes tops Sochaux >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lens solidified its spot in the second
position in the French Ligue 1 table when it earned a 1-0 victory at Marseille
on Sunday.
Aruna Dindane's penalty kick in the 59th minute proved to be the differe
Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.
Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.
Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.
Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
Arizona 20-1
Butler 20-1
Duke 30-1
Florida 7-2
Georgetown 30-1
Indiana 35-1
Kansas 15-1
Marquette 25-1
Maryland 40-1
Memphis 50-1
Nevada 50-1
UNC 9-2
OSU 8-1
Oregon 30-1
Pittsburgh 15-1
Texas 30-1
Texas A&M 18-1
UCLA 6-1
Wisconsin 10-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.
MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook that aims to keep betting fun. The company sees itself as a premier provider of a top-shelf gambling entertainment experience. MySportsbook knows that this can not be accomplished if gamblers are struggling through the betting process, so the emphasis is put on simplicity and ease of use.
Established in 1997, MySportsbook was the first sportsbook to offer the Instant eCheck method, and has since continued on to be one of the most innovate and fastest growing internet sportsbooks the industry has seen. A player doesn’t have to look very far before coming across one of the many sportsbooks that have cloned MySportsbook’s written policies, web pages and advertising campaign, hoping to bottle some of MySportsbook’s magic.
Although MySportsbook’s growth is largely attributed to their talented in-house marketing team, every successful bookmaker will agree that bringing the players in is only half of the battle. In a time when most internet sportsbook were nickel-and-diming players, MySportsbook was creating ways to make bonuses automatic and absent of fine print, while offering all payouts free of charge. This sportsbook also accepts Visa & Mastercard sportsbook.
Almost everything on the online sportsbook site is set in the model of simplicity, making the CS clerk’s job easy as well. Each account action made online results in an automated email sent to the client. When calling MySportsbook, the player feels as if his call is in the united states as no accents can be heard through a state of the art telecommunications system. Few online sportsbooks can compete with My Sportsbook when it comes to offering a fun and hassle-free experience to the small to moderate sized gambler.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting