Logano looking to go 3-for-3 at Kentucky

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/08/2010 - Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, June 12. Race: Meijer 300. Site: Kentucky Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2009 winner: Joey Logano. Television: ESPN. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

This weekend's race at Kentucky is the second in a stretch of three consecutive stand-alone events for the Nationwide Series. After last week's Nashville-Pocono combo, three of the four double-duty drivers were tops at Nashville. Brad Keselowski won there, while Carl Edwards finished second and Paul Menard took third. Michael McDowell crashed midway through the race and ended up finishing 30th.

With the win, Keselowski increased his lead to 196 points over Kyle Busch, who remained second in the standings, despite not competing at Nashville. Busch, the 2009 Nationwide champion, only raced at Pocono in order to focus on his Sprint Cup Series efforts this season.

Brad Coleman drove Busch's No.18 Toyota to a sixth-place finish at Nashville. Coleman also will drive the car at Kentucky.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, will join the group of drivers doing the Kentucky-Michigan duo.

Kentucky/Michigan is the first time this season that Logano will attempt double duty at two different tracks. He will practice and qualify for the 400- mile Sprint Cup race at Michigan on Friday afternoon before traveling to Kentucky to practice for the Nationwide event there later in the evening. Logano will then return to Michigan that night to be able to participate in Saturday morning's final Cup practice. He will fly back to Kentucky in time to qualify for the 300-mile Nationwide race. However, JGR development driver Matt DiBenedetto will be on standby.

Logano has started on the pole and won the last two Nationwide races at Kentucky. In 2008, he became the youngest race winner in the series at age 18 years and 21 days.

"I'm pumped to head back to Kentucky Speedway," Logano said. "That place holds a lot of special memories for me. It's the track that I got my first Nationwide Series win, and it's the track that I first tested a Sprint Cup car. It's my most successful track. There are not a lot of drivers out there that can go to a track more than once and say that they are batting 1.000."

Logano is the only repeat winner there.

Kentucky also will be the second of four "Dash 4 Cash" races on the 2010 Nationwide schedule. Nationwide Insurance sponsors the bonus program, with eligible drivers having an opportunity to collect an extra $25,000 if they win. Drivers who qualify include: full-time and part-time/limited schedule series-only regulars, as well as double-duty drivers who competed in every series event.

Kevin Harvick won the first "Dash 4 Cash" event this season in April at Nashville. Harvick, who was a full-time Nationwide driver at the time, collected the money award. He is not competing at Kentucky, which is probably a good thing for Logano.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Meijer 300.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.