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08/18/2010 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Wednesday officially released its 2011 schedule for all three of its national touring series. As expected, there are several major changes to next year's schedule, particularly in the Sprint Cup Series.
The 36-race Sprint Cup schedule will feature two realigned events. For the first time in a decade, the series will add a new track to the schedule. Kentucky Speedway will host its inaugural race on July 9, while a second Kansas Speedway date will be held on June 5, the week after the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Phoenix International Raceway will move its first date to February 27, the week after the season-opening Daytona 500. PIR will replace Southern California's Auto Club Speedway, which will switch to later in the season on March 27. Texas Motor Speedway fills in the vacated Phoenix spot and will host its first night-time Sprint Cup race on April 9.
The 2011 "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship -- the final 10 Cup races of the season -- will begin at Chicagoland Speedway on September 18. Chicagoland's previous race date was in early July, a slot that went to the realigned event at Kentucky. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which previously had the first Chase date, will now have the second playoff race on September 25. The race weekends for Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway during the Chase will swap, with Talladega running the week before Martinsville.
"The adjustments and realignment of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will make for an exciting race season next year," NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Brian France said in a statement. "The revised schedule provides better situated dates for the tracks, a more challenging lineup for the drivers and ultimately more intrigue for the fans."
A second race added to both Iowa Speedway and Chicagoland highlight the changes in next year's Nationwide Series schedule. Iowa will host its Nationwide dates on May 22 and August 6, while Chicagoland will be held on June 4 and September 17, which is the day before the Chase begins at that track.
The previous stand-alone event at Kentucky Speedway now will be part of the inaugural Sprint Cup race weekend on July 8.
Next year's Nationwide schedule will consist of 34 races, all featuring the new car that is being run a total of four times this season.
Twenty-four races on next year's Camping World Truck Series schedule have been revealed, with an additional race to be announced on a later date.
Phoenix's truck date will move to February. The Arizona track traditionally hosted the penultimate truck race in November. Darlington will switch from August to March, while Michigan will shift from June to August.
2011 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Site
Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, Daytona International Speedway*
Feb. 20 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 27 Phoenix International Raceway
March 6 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 20 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 27 Auto Club Speedway
April 3 Martinsville Speedway
April 9 Texas Motor Speedway
April 17 Talladega Superspeedway
April 30 Richmond International Raceway
May 7 Darlington Raceway
May 15 Dover International Speedway
May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Charlotte Motor Speedway*
May 29 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 5 Kansas Speedway
June 12 Pocono Raceway
June 19 Michigan International Speedway
June 26 Infineon Raceway
July 2 Daytona International Speedway
July 9 Kentucky Speedway
July 17 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 31 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 7 Pocono Raceway
Aug. 14 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 21 Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 27 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 4 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 10 Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 18 Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 25 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Oct. 2 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 9 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 15 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Oct. 23 Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 30 Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 6 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 13 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 20 Homestead-Miami Speedway
* Denotes non-points event.
2011 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Site
Feb. 19 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 26 Phoenix International Raceway
March 5 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 19 Bristol Motor Speedway
March 26 Auto Club Speedway
April 8 Texas Motor Speedway
April 16 Talladega Superspeedway
April 23 Nashville Superspeedway
April 29 Richmond International Raceway
May 6 Darlington Raceway
May 14 Dover International Speedway
May 22 Iowa Speedway
May 28 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 4 Chicagoland Speedway
June 18 Michigan International Speedway
June 25 Road America
July 1 Daytona International Speedway
July 8 Kentucky Speedway
July 16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 23 Nashville Superspeedway
July 30 O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
Aug. 6 Iowa Speedway
Aug. 13 Watkins Glen International
Aug. 20 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Aug. 26 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 3 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 9 Richmond International Raceway
Sept 17 Chicagoland Speedway
Oct. 1 Dover International Speedway
Oct. 8 Kansas Speedway
Oct. 14 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Nov. 5 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 12 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 19 Homestead-Miami Speedway
2011 NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Site
Feb. 18 Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 25 Phoenix International Raceway
March 12 Darlington Raceway
April 2 Martinsville Speedway
April 22 Nashville Superspeedway
May 13 Dover International Speedway
May 20 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 4 Kansas Speedway
June 10 Texas Motor Speedway
July 16 Iowa Speedway
July 22 Nashville Superspeedway
July 29 O'Reilly Raceway Park
Aug. 6 Pocono Raceway
Aug. 20 Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 24 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 2 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sept. 16 Chicagoland Speedway
Sept. 24 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Oct. 1 Kentucky Speedway
Oct. 15 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 22 Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 29 Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 4 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 18 Homestead-Miami Speedway
Note: one additional Camping World Truck Series date to be added.
<< Cowboys G Kosier out with MCL injury
Oxnard, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys left guard Kyle Kosier will miss
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Kosier sustained the injury during
<< U.S. to host Poland at Soldier Field
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States men's national soccer team
will face Poland on Oct. 9 at Soldier Field in Chicago, U.S. Soccer announced
on Wednesday.
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<< Als RB Cobourne to miss Thursday's game
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes running back Avon Cobourne
will not play in Thursday's game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
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injury. Brandon
<< BYU to leave MWC, which invites Nevada, Fresno State
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University has
reportedly decided to leave the Mountain West Conference, which subsequently
invited Fresno State and Nevada to join.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, BYU
VCU extends Smart's contract >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaka Smart, the head men's basketball coach
at Virginia Commonwealth University, received a two-year contract extension on
Wednesday.
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Richard, Padres continue to roll in win over Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Richard allowed just one run in 6 2/3
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Cardinals release S Rouse >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals have released safety
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The 26-year-old played in 14 games, eight as a starter, last season for the
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Pelini says he might relent on media lockdown >>
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Nebraska coach Bo Pelini's hard line with the media on Wednesday morning seemed to be softening by nightfall.Irritated by some media members' reporting methods, Pelini announced he was cutting off access to players and coaches fo
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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