Gordon reigns supreme at Pocono

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/11/2007 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Letarte made the right calls and got Jeff Gordon out front when the rains came to capture Sunday's rain-delayed Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line ahead of Ryan Newman.

The victory was Gordon's fourth of the season and 79th of his Nextel Cup career.

"You need to be talking to Steve Letarte, he won this race," said Gordon. "We had a great race car, but without track position and without a great call like that...I can't believe we won this race."

Newman brought the field to the green flag after more than a three-hour rain delay, but it was Denny Hamlin that led the first lap. The winner of both races at Pocono in 2006, took up right where he left off.

Hamlin opened up a half-a-second lead over Kyle Busch as Newman faded to fourth. Then Stewart took up chase, passing Busch for second. Busch couldn't keep pace and fell more than two seconds behind the two leaders through the first dozen laps.

Martin Truex Jr., last week's winner at Dover, displayed his new-found confidence by slipping past Busch for third place, but he was more than four seconds behind Hamlin's torrid pace.

Hamlin maintained his one-second lead on Stewart through the first 25 laps. Truex Jr. was four seconds and the remainder of the field was six or more seconds back.

Hamlin brought the FedEx Chevrolet down pit lane on lap 27 for his scheduled first stop. When he came out, he wasn't as dominant. He and Stewart exchanged the lead a couple of times. And Truex Jr. was the fastest of the three, chopping a couple of seconds of the lead.

Robby Gordon blew a left-front tire on lap 49 to bring out the first caution of the afternoon. Hamlin didn't want, or need, any changes and the team got him off pit lane first.

After the pit stops, Newman's No.12 Penske Dodge seemed to awaken. On lap 55 he got around Hamlin for the lead. He was still in the lead when Dave Blaney slammed the outside wall.

There was a report of rain in the area and during the next round of stops there were a multitude of strategies. Jeff Gordon found himself out front by not pitting. But the faster cars weren't that far away. Newman was fifth, Stewart started eighth and Truex 11th. Hamlin had a slower stop, after taking four tires and restarted in 21st.

Hamlin was flying and in the first four laps he passed nine cars. With the rain in the distance, did he have enough time to get back into the lead?

The No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevy cracked the top-10 on lap 78. Gordon was still leading, but Newman was chopping into the lead and Stewart was fourth. Truex Jr. was right there too, in fifth.

At the 80-lap mark, Gordon's lead over teammate Casey Mears was 1.238 seconds. On the next lap Newman got underneath Mears for second and took off after Gordon.

Gordon pitted on lap 83 and Newman inherited the lead. Stewart was in second and Truex Jr. was right on his rear bumper. Hamlin, the fastest car on the track, was up to eighth. He moved into the top-five on lap 85.

Newman held more than one second on Truex Jr. and Stewart was about two seconds back. Hamlin got around Matt Kenseth on lap 87 for fourth, but he was 7.941 seconds behind Newman.

Jimmie Johnson blew a left-front tire on lap 91 and a lot of cars ducked down pit lane. Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Stewart and Truex Jr stopped.

Hamlin stayed out and took over the top spot. Then he too pitted on lap 93 and returned in 12th.

When would the rains come?

Now Edwards was in the lead...and yelling that he saw rain drops. Gordon was in second and Mears in third. Edwards held a 12-second lead over Gordon, but he pitted for fuel two laps from the halfway point.

Gordon had the lead and he could stay out until lap 114. Newman was faster than Mears and got around him for second place. He was two seconds behind Gordon. Truex was third and Hamlin was still flying and up to sixth.

Then the rains came and the caution flag flew on lap 105. They made one more lap under yellow and then the red flag ended the day.

Truex Jr., Mears and Stewart completed the top-five.

Gordon will leave the track with a 242-point lead over Matt Kenseth. Hamlin is third, 247 points back.

Next week the series travels to Brooklyn, MI for a race at the two-mile Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 24th.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

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