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08/23/2007 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Benson used an alternative pit strategy to perfection and captured Wednesday night's O'Reilly 200 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The No.23 Exide Batteries Toyota crossed the finish line seven lengths ahead of Brendan Gaughan.
The victory was Benson's second of the season and seventh of his Craftsman Truck Series career.
Travis Kvapil brought the field to the green flag for 200 laps of pure short track racing. And it wasn't even one lap before the first caution flag flew as Timothy Peters slammed the outside wall.
Kvapil lasted 16 laps before realizing the Gaughan was faster and he let him slide past for the lead. Gaughan, who got married last week, quickly pulled out to a four-length lead. But more caution flags slowed the action to a crawl.
The leaders took the opportunity to pit, possibly for the only time all evening. Mark Martin took fuel only and came out fourth, while Gaughan took two right-side tires and was fifth on the restart.
Johnny Benson didn't stop and inherited the lead as they went back to green on lap 49. Gaughan was still on the move, passing Martin for third and taking off after the leaders. The No.77 Chevrolet got around Jason White for second and had just one truck between himself and the leader, who still had to make a pit stop.
Kvapil was also following Gaughan up the charts and was third at lap 75. In fact, Kvapil was taking a peek to the bottom of the track on Gaughan, but he closed the door. Then Kvapil faked low, went high and took second from Gaughan.
Kvapil got up to Benson's door on lap 97, but a slower car prevented the No.6 Ford from completing the pass.
Tim Sauter broke his rear suspension on lap 103 and Benson took the opportunity to make his pit stop for fuel and four tires. He would restart 17th. That gave the lead to Kvapil with a fast Kyle Busch, Gaughan, points leader Mike Skinner and Martin just behind him.
Laps clicked off slowly as three more caution flag periods kept everyone on hold.
The green flag dropped on lap 129 and off they went. Kvapil was still trying to hold off Busch. Benson restarted in eighth apparently wanting to get back in the battle too.
Sixty laps to go and Kvapil held 0.494 seconds on Busch. Benson was up to sixth, three seconds back. Before the field hit the 150-lap mark, Benson was fourth and challenging Gaughan.
Forty laps remained and Busch was right on Kvapil's rear bumper. Then a debris caution slowed the field. Seeing the flag, Benson was likely smiling as it brought him within striking distance of the leaders.
The race restarted with 34 laps to go. Kvapil got off quickly and built his lead to three lengths. Meanwhile, Benson took third from Gaughan. Derrike Cope slammed the inside wall and the eighth caution flag would last a little while with body pieces and fluid all over the track.
The race finally restarted with just 22 laps remaining. This time Busch was all over Kvapil at the start. They were locked side-by-side in turn four when they both spun. They kept off the walls, but Benson cruised underneath the two spinning trucks and the lead was his once again.
The race restarted with 16 laps to go. Benson, who had gotten four tires at lap 103 was better than Gaughan, who had taken just two right-sides much earlier in the race. But another caution (Todd Bodine spin) gave Gaughan one last chance to figure a way past Benson. Gaughan couldn't find one and Benson took the checkered flag and the victory, his second of the season.
Martin, Skinner and Rick Crawford completed the top-five. For the first time in 20 races, Skinner failed to lead a lap.
The next race on the truck series schedule is set for Saturday, September 1st at the Gateway International Raceway.
<< Davydenko advances in New Haven
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion, top-seeded Russian
Nikolay Davydenko and fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer were second-round
winners Wednesday at the $650,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S. Open
tune-up
<< Rangers set modern-day run record in 30-3 rout of O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marlon Byrd and Travis Metcalf each
belted grand slams, helping the Texas Rangers set a modern-record for most
runs in a game by decimating the Baltimore Orioles 30-3, in the front end of a
twi-nig
<< Tu reaches Forest Hills QFs
Forest Hills, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded American Meilen Tu was
among Wednesday's opening-round winners at the $74,800 Forest Hills Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour Classic. Rain wiped out opening day here on Tuesday and
caused
<< Tigers' Sheffield sidelined with shoulder injury
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield will
likely be sidelined a week to rest his aching right shoulder.
According to the Tigers' web site, the shoulder has bothered Sheffield for
about the last two
Peavy pitches Padres past Mets >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Khalil Greene had three hits and drove in
three runs and Jake Peavy struck out 11 over six innings to lead the San Diego
Padres over the New York Mets, 7-5, at Shea Stadium.
Peavy (14-5) won his fifth
Dodgers feast on Phils' pitching in 15-3 rout >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Ethier belted a two-run home run in
the fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pounded the Philadelphia
Phillies, 15-3, in the second of three straight games at Citizens Bank Park.
Matt K
Upton lifts D-Rays past BoSox >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - B.J. Upton's two-run homer in the sixth
was all the offense the Devil Rays needed as Tampa Bay downed Boston, 2-1, to
avoid a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field.
Edwin Jackson (4-12) gave up just o
United top Red Bulls on Moreno's historic night >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Red Bulls are the second
straight Major League Soccer team to suffer from the David Beckham hangover.
On Aug. 12, the New England Revolution hosted Beckham and the Los Angeles
Galaxy
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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