Martin on board with MWR for next two seasons

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/04/2011 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Waltrip Racing made it official on Friday that Mark Martin will drive the team's No.00 Toyota in a partial Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2012 and '13.

Martin and team co-owner Michael Waltrip made the announcement at Texas Motor Speedway, where the series is running the eighth race in the championship Chase this weekend.

The 52-year-old Martin will compete in 25 Sprint Cup races each of the next two seasons. He will make his debut with MWR in the February 26 Daytona 500. Martin is presently in his third and final year as driver of the No.5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Kasey Kahne is taking over driving duties of the No.5 car, starting next year.

Martin will join Martin Truex Jr. and recently acquired Clint Bowyer in MWR's three-car stable next season. Bowyer is leaving Richard Childress Racing at season's end.

"It's the perfect schedule for me," Martin said. "It gives me an opportunity to catch my breath and to spend a little bit more time with the fans and with the sponsors. Hopefully, it will give me a bit more time than I'm able to do now with the [Hendrick] team. They've given me an opportunity here to hopefully have an effect on the direction of the program."

Martin also ran a part-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2007 and '08, driving for Ginn Racing/Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Waltrip will drive the No.00 car in both Talladega races, as well as the July events at Daytona and Kentucky, which is his home state.

MWR also announced that it has extended its sponsorship agreement with Aaron's for the next two seasons.

Waltrip said it did not take much convincing for Martin to join the team.

"This whole process from the time it was mentioned to sitting here today has been less than three weeks, "Waltrip said. "It didn't take a lot of time to convince Mark. We got a lot of great things going on at Michael Waltrip Racing. He loves the commitment that Aaron's had made to this sport. It was kind of an opportunity for him to step back a little bit and refresh his batteries by running a limited schedule.

MWR plans to run a combination of drivers and sponsor partners to fill the remaining races when Martin and Waltrip will not be behind the wheel of the No.00.

David Reutimann is the current driver of the No.00. On Thursday, MWR announced that Reutimann will not be return to the team for next season.

Wwcelebpoker Autoracing Betting News

<< Chargers RB Mathews questionable
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews is questionable for Sunday's game against the Packers. Mathews has missed practice all week with a groin injury. The second-year pro out of Fresno Stat

<< Marseille hopes to make up ground in Ligue 1
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille's domestic form is starting to pick up and, after another important Champions League result, will try to run its Ligue 1 unbeaten streak to seven games Sunday when it hosts Nice. Marseille wa

<< Browns RB Hillis questionable for Sunday
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis re- injured his hamstring in practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans. He was expected to start prior to suf

<< Cardinals QB Kolb doubtful for Sunday
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb is doubtful for Sunday's game against the Rams due to a turf toe injury. Kolb injured his right toe during last Sunday's game against Baltimore. He missed pra

<< Steelers seeking payback in grudge match with Ravens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 1 helped to propel the Baltimore Ravens to the top of the list of contenders in the AFC. Pittsburgh has slowly been making its climb back into the conference mix

Musical Romance upsets in Filly and Mare Sprint >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longshot Musical Romance drove along the inside to capture the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs. Ridden by Juan Leyva, the four-year-old filly covered the seven-f

Levante, Valencia ready for derby >>
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Levante lost its grip on first place in La Liga last weekend, and hosts Valencia on Saturday in the Valencia derby with a lot on the line for the European hopefuls. Levante finally slipped behind Real Madr

Set pieces key in Sporting clash with Houston >>
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting Kansas City is set to host the Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Final on Sunday with both teams hitting stride at just the right time. Including its final regular season matche

My Miss Aurelia takes Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - My Miss Aurelia, ridden by Corey Nakatani, won going away in Friday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs. The two-year-old filly, trained by Steve Asmussen, ran the 1 1/16-

Mainz tops Stuttgart to end eight-game skid >>
Mainz, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Ujah scored two goals in the second half and Mainz ended an eight-match winless skid with a 3-1 win over Stuttgart on Friday at Coface Arena in the Bundesliga. Germany international Cacau handed Stu

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.