NASCAR needs to control on-going Edwards-Keselowski feud

Autoracing Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prior to the start of the 2010 season, NASCAR essentially told Sprint Cup Series drivers, "Boys, have at it and have a good time." Perhaps NASCAR should redefine its new rules on allowing more on-track freedom for drivers, following Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski's frightful incident in the closing laps of Sunday's race at Atlanta.

Keselowski got his bell rung when Edwards intentionally bumped him from behind and sent his No.12 Penske Dodge flying upside down into the wall along the frontstretch at the fast 1.54-mile track.

Edwards was more than 150 laps behind at the time of the crash, due to a previous encounter with Keselowski earlier in the race. Keselowski clipped Edwards and shot him up to the track before he made contact with Joey Logano and then slammed into the wall.

Obviously, it was payback time for Edwards, after he spent most of the race in the garage for repairs on his Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Keselowski was not injured during his spectacular crash, but appeared to be a bit dazed and confused when he exited his battered car under his own power.

"It's one thing to race somebody hard and to get into an accident," Keselowski said. "When you're going for position, it's another to intentionally wreck somebody doing 195 m.p.h. at a track like this."

NASCAR immediately took action when they parked Edwards for the remainder of the event and ordered him to the hauler for a not-so-pleasant discussion with race officials.

"I think we probably won't have as many run-ins now as we had in the past, and that's a good thing," Edwards said. "Both of us probably will be better off."

Right now, NASCAR faces a dilemma on how to handle the latest in the on-going feud between Edwards and Keselowski. The sanctioning body currently is reviewing the episode between the two drivers, and could hand down hefty penalties if warranted.

"I would say that there seems to be a history between the two drivers, and I'm not going any further on it right now," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said after the race.

The feud between the two began last April when Keselowski hit Edwards from behind on the final lap at Talladega. While Keselowski drove on to his first Sprint Cup victory, Edwards' car spun and then sailed into the safety fence along the frontstretch. Eight race fans sustained minor injuries after being struck by debris from his car.

Later in the season, both drivers tangled in a Nationwide Series race at Memphis, with Keselowski turning Edwards around in the closing laps.

Keselowski has a reputation among fellow competitors as being an overly aggressive driver. Denny Hamlin certainly would agree with that assertion, after the two engaged in a heated rivalry during the final Nationwide races last season. Keselowski spun Hamlin at Phoenix, and Hamlin retaliated with a bump from behind the following week in the season-finale at Homestead.

While the Hamlin-Keselowski rivalry has simmered for the time being, the feud between Edwards and Keselowski has reached a boiling point. Edwards counter- attack at Atlanta could have produced devastating consequences.

So, should NASCAR suspend Edwards at least one race for his premeditated action against Keselowski? Probably so. Will they? Probably not. If Edwards is suspended, it would be a huge blow towards his chances of making the championship Chase in the fall.

Suspensions are not common in NASCAR's top circuit. Only two Cup drivers have been suspended for a race in the past decade. Kevin Harvick sat out the spring race at Martinsville one day after he was parked for rough driving in the truck race there. NASCAR grounded Robby Gordon for the August 2007 race at Pocono following his on-track altercation with Marcos Ambrose in the inaugural Nationwide event at Montreal.

Even though NASCAR adopted a more hands-off policy this year, Edwards crossed the line at Atlanta, and he should be punished.

It's time for NASCAR to take the appropriate action.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.