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01/13/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR officials seem to be very encouraged so far with their revised rules package for next month's Speedweeks events at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR president Mike Helton, vice president of competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Series director John Darby gave a competition update on the new rules on Friday at Daytona. Thirty-two Sprint Cup teams are in the midst of a three-day test session at the 2.5-mile speedway, preparing themselves for Speedweeks, particularly the February 26 Daytona 500.
At the conclusion of Thursday's opening day session, NASCAR notified teams it will increase the size of the restrictor plates to 15/16 of an inch and reduce the size of the front grille opening by one inch on each side. The sanctioning body also announced it will ban communications between drivers on their car radios during the race in an effort to break up the two-car tandems.
"In what we saw on the racetrack [Thursday], the ability to react from our side and from the teams' side to make adjustments and adapt to those adjustments I think is what we are seeing unfold in front of us," Helton said. "We've not seen anything that we dislike, but we know there are other things that we would like to see more of. I think the progress of the weekend is we're kind of in the middle of it right now."
NASCAR's latest modification to the restrictor plate and the grille openings made for speeds almost reaching 205 mph during Friday morning's session at Daytona. Michael Waltrip Racing drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer led the way with identical lap speeds of 204.722 mph. Richard Petty Motorsports teammates Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola were second quickest at 203.142 mph each.
During the afternoon session, NASCAR gathered further data when as many as 20 cars ran in a draft.
"What we're looking for is just the ability to collect some data and put another check in the box if you will," Darby said. "We've seen a lot of time spent on qualifying laps and qualifying runs. We've seen a little bit of time spent with a two-car-tandem type of a push.
"The one snapshot we haven't been able to capture yet is what does 10 or 15 or 20 cars in an old-school style of draft look like. What kind of speeds do they generate, and what type of rpm do the engines run at. It's something we need, and it's a piece of the master equation if you will, as we close in on a package to come back to Speedweeks with."
Prior to this week's test, NASCAR collected data from test sessions at Talladega Superspeedway last October and then Daytona the following month.
NASCAR has also conducted test sessions for teams to familiarize themselves with the electronic fuel injection systems, which are replacing carburetors in the Sprint Cup cars for the 2012 season.
"I think NASCAR has handled this really well, and we've had a lot of time to develop the systems and get things going," said five-time series champion and 2006 Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson. "I don't have any fear, and I don't really sense any throughout the garage area. We're still learning the rules package as we go.
"With a day and a half to go, I'm not sure NASCAR has settled in with the package they want just yet, and we'll keep fine-tuning. From an overall aero package and plate package, there's still probably some adjusting that would take place I would guess. I really don't know. From a reliability standpoint of the [electronic fuel injection], I don't see any issues for anybody."
Teams will wrap up testing at Daytona on Saturday. NASCAR will then decide if further modifications to the cars are needed before the start of Speedweeks.
"It's a test, and we're all learning from the test, and when we get our information when we're done, we will go back to sit down with our groups and make decisions on how we come back to start Speedweeks," Pemberton said.
During last year's Speedweeks at Daytona, NASCAR made numerous changes to the cars, including the restrictor-plate size.
"When Speedweeks unfolds, many times we do make an adjustment when we're down here to address what the teams have done to make their improvements," Pemberton added. "We expect that out of them, and they expect that out of us. I think we're all geared up to come back and have a pretty good Speedweeks. I think this is one of the better test sessions that we have been at in a number of years."
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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