Bayne On Position Plate

Autoracing Betting Lines

But nobody is hotter in the Sprint Cup garage right now than Kurt Busch, who won last Sunday's race in Sonoma, CA. Busch not only captured his first win of the 2011 season, but claimed his maiden victory on a road course as well. He has also won the pole in three of the last four races.

 

Busch is now hoping to pick up his first win in a points-paying race on a restrictor plate track (Daytona and Talladega).

 

Busch won the Budweiser Shootout and first Gatorade Duel qualifying race before finishing fifth in this year's Daytona 500. He finished second in the 2003, '05 and '08 Daytona 500s.

 

One day after turning 20 years old, Bayne became the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500. He inherited the lead when NASCAR penalized then-leader David Ragan for changing his lane position just before the restart in the first of two green-white-checkered attempts. Bayne then held off Carl Edwards during the final two-lap overtime finish to win his first race in just his second series start.

 

Several records were broken in the February 20 Daytona 500, thanks in part to the newly-paved surface at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. The race featured a record 74 lead changes among 22 different leaders.

 

"I think as a team we have a set strategy that we're going to go into that race this week and see how it works," two-time Daytona race winner Kevin Harvick said. "Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know. We've talked about it for a couple weeks now and have a good plan."

 

Harvick won the 400-mile race at Daytona one year ago. He is also the 2007 Daytona 500 champion.

 

The two-car drafts made for a thriller at Talladega in April. In a race that featured 88 lead changes among 26 drivers, Earnhardt Jr. partnered with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, during the final laps and pushed Johnson to victory in what was an incredible finish.

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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.

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