Dillon quickly making a name for himself in NASCAR

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Look out NASCAR, there's a promising young gun on the horizon.

Austin Dillon is looking more and more like the next big up-and-comer in the sport after winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in dominating fashion on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. His first win came in just his 12th truck start. Dillon also set a record at Iowa by becoming the first rookie in the series to win three consecutive poles.

At age 20 years, two months and 37 days, Dillon became the second-youngest race winner in the 16-year history of the series, behind Kyle Busch, who won at Charlotte in 2005 when he was 20 years and 18 days old.

After leading 187 of 205 laps and holding off NASCAR veteran Johnny Sauter in a two-lap overtime finish, Dillon drove the famed black No.3 in victory lane at Iowa, which was a delight to many race fans around the world.

"It's pretty awesome," Dillon said. "I've wanted to do it for the fans too. I know they want to see it out front, and that's the only way people really want to appreciate it if it's run well, I think. I've put enough pressure on myself to go out and do the best I can every time I get in that truck, and this just proves that we can do it. I'm glad it's the No.3. It's my favorite number to run, and hopefully I can run it for a long time."

Not since the days of Dale Earnhardt have we seen a black-colored vehicle with the No.3 on it win a race in any one of NASCAR's top-three series. Earnhardt made the 3 one of the most popular icons in NASCAR while driving for team owner Richard Childress from the early 1980's until his untimely death during the 2001 Daytona 500.

Dillon is Childress' grandson.

Earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, driving the iconic Wrangler blue and yellow paint scheme No.3 Chevrolet. Earnhardt Jr. had a one-race deal with Richard Childress Racing to drive the car in honor of his late-father's recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

"It's just one of these great days, and to be back in [victory lane] with the 3 last week was special with Dale Jr., but [Sunday] was really special," Childress said after Dillon's win at Iowa.

Childress made the trip to the 0.875-mile track, located roughly 35 miles east of Des Moines, IA, following Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Currently sitting in the seventh spot in the truck standings, Dillon is far from being counted out of the championship. He trails leader Todd Bodine by 267 points. Dillon is almost certain to receive rookie of the year honors in the series this year, and will take the next career step by graduating to either the Nationwide or Sprint Cup Series in 2011.

"We've kind of sat down and planned out next year," Dillon said. "I'm planning on running the Truck Series again next year, running for a championship again, which I'm really excited for. I think that's the way we need to approach it, is try and get more experience.

"We did win the race [Sunday]. I know everybody wants to move up quick. I feel we're at a point right now where we can take our time. My grandfather is the same way. We don't want to rush things, move up too fast. Just puts you in a bad situation. That's the plan for so far, is to run the Truck Series."

After brief stints in trucks, several drivers, including Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards, quickly elevated to Cup, and did so with a great success.

Busch recorded four victories during his sophomore Cup season, and then went on to win the inaugural championship Chase in 2004. Edwards won four races and finished third in points during his first full season in NASCAR's top-tier series in 2005.

Dillon made his first two truck starts in 2009, with his debut coming last September at Iowa. He originally qualified for the October race at Talladega, but had his time disallowed after his truck did not meet the minimum height requirement during post-qualifying inspection.

He has also made seven Nationwide starts so far, the recent coming last month at New Hampshire, where he drove the No.21 RCR Chevrolet to a 25th-place finish.

Since the start of the season, Dillon has continued to show improvement, finishing no worse than fifth in the last three truck races. Don't be surprised to see him in victory lane again before the end of this year, and rest assured that he's on his way to becoming one of the next big stars in NASCAR.

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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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