Franchitti riding high into Texas after Indy win

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Saturday, June 5. Race: Firestone 550k. Site: Texas Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval. Start Time: 8:45 p.m. (et). Laps: 228. Miles: 550 (kilometers). 2009 winner: Helio Castroneves. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

After winning the Indianapolis 500 in dominating fashion last Sunday, Dario Franchitti made a strong statement in his bid for a second straight IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Franchitti led 155 of 200 laps to claim his second Indy 500 victory. His first win came in 2007.

"To win two of these things is pretty special," Franchitti said. "They showed me a list of two time winners. Those guys are legends. I said the other night, I'm just a driver, those guys are legends. I'm so lucky to be drive for Chip [Ganassi] and Team Target, getting in good cars, especially having gone away after we won in '07. To be invited back was pretty cool. To have won a championship and an Indy 500, I didn't expect any of this."

Franchitti collected nearly $2.8 million for his Indy 500 win.

"That's a lot of money in any currency," he said. "This race just gets better and better, and I think we're getting back to the glory days. I'm so proud to be back here and be a part of it. It's home for me."

Franchitti not only gave Ganassi his fourth Indy 500 victory as a team owner, but also helped Ganassi become the only owner to win the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 in the same year. Jamie McMurray, in his first year with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, won the Daytona 500 in February.

With six of 17 races completed on the 2010 IndyCar schedule, Franchitti is just 11 points behind leader Will Power from Team Penske.

Franchitti has recorded 14 career IndyCar victories, but has yet to win at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway. His best finish in six starts at Texas is second, which came in 2004. He started on the pole there in '04 and last year.

Helio Castroneves is the defending race winner.

Castroneves' Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe, dominated the race by leading 160 of 228 laps, but Castroneves beat Briscoe out of the pits during final round of stops and took the lead for good with 53 laps remaining. The Brazilian has not won a race since one year ago at Texas.

After sustaining multiple injuries during a hard crash in the closing laps of the Indy 500, Mike Conway will be out of the No.24 Dreyer and Reinbold Racing car for at least three months. The team has yet to name a driver for Saturday's race at Texas.

Conway had surgery to repair fractures to his lower left leg. He also has a soft tissue injury to his lower left leg and is expected to have another surgical procedure later this week. Conway also suffered a compression fracture of one of his thoracic vertebrae. He has been fitted for a back brace, which he will wear for the next few months.

Ryan Hunter-Reay also was involved in the late-race crash at Indy. Hunter-Reay had surgery on his left thumb and was fitted with a carbon fiber splint, which should allow him to participate at Texas.

Twenty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Firestone 550k.

Lottoballls Autoracing Betting News


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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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