Danica-mania returns to Nationwide at New Hampshire

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, June 26. Race: New England 200. Site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Track: 1.058- mile oval. Start time: 3:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 211.6. 2009 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: ESPN. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

She's back. After a four-month hiatus, Danica Patrick returns to the Nationwide Series this weekend at New Hampshire.

Of course, Patrick will be the center of attention at New Hampshire, as one of auto racing's most popular and widely marketable drivers is expected to make her fourth career Nationwide start. She is guaranteed a starting position in the 200-lap race since her No.7 JR Motorsports team currently sits 20th in owner points.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back to all the cool people that I've met, my friends and the team; they've been great," Patrick said. "I really like driving the cars. They're a lot of fun, and they are a different challenge than IndyCar, but I think some of things I learned over [in IndyCar], they have helped me over [in NASCAR]."

Patrick has spent the last four months focusing on her full-time IndyCar efforts. After struggling earlier in the IndyCar season, the 28-year-old driver has nicely rebounded with three straight top-10 finishes, including a second-place run earlier this month at Texas. She currently sits 11th in points.

This is an off-week for IndyCar before the series resumes on July 4 at the Watkins Glen, NY road course.

Before her foray into NASCAR, Patrick made her stock car racing debut with an impressive sixth-place finish in the February ARCA event at Daytona. One week later, she competed in the Nationwide season-opener at Daytona. Patrick finished 35th after being caught up in a multi-car pileup mid-way through the event.

At California, Patrick finished the 300-mile race without incident, but fell three laps behind with a 31st-place result. Her most recent Nationwide event came at Las Vegas, where she crashed early and wound up finishing 36th.

With its length at 1.058 miles, New Hampshire will become the shortest track that Patrick will run so far in her early stock car racing career.

No doubt, Patrick will have her hands full at New Hampshire.

"This will be the most sort of dramatic back and forth sort of stuff that I will be dealing with," Patrick said. "At the beginning of the season, it was a little bit more cut and dry. It was more NASCAR than IndyCar. Now, it's definitely going to be back and forth, but I have to say in the times that I have gone back and forth, I don't have any problem with it."

After New Hampshire, Patrick is scheduled to compete in nine more Nationwide races this season, with the next one on July 9 at Chicagoland.

Another big story at New Hampshire will be the possibility of a 24th different winner in as many Nationwide races here.

Last year, Kyle Busch made a late-race pass on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano for the lead, and then held it to become the 23rd different winner at New Hampshire.

Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jason Keller, Joe Nemechek and Kenny Wallace are those drivers on the 43-team preliminary entry list for the New England 200 that have won at New Hampshire in the past.

Could one of these drivers become the first repeat winner, or could someone like Logano or points leader Brad Keselowski keep the streak alive at New Hampshire?

We'll find out on Saturday.

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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.