Montoya wins second straight New Hampshire pole

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/25/2010 - Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya edged Kasey Kahne in Friday's qualifying for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 to claim his second consecutive pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Montoya, who won the pole last September at New Hampshire, turned a lap of 132.337 m.p.h. around the flat one-mile oval for his third career Sprint Cup Series pole. The 34-year-old Colombian qualified for the 2009 championship Chase, but currently sits 20th in points.

"I think the position we are in points, we definitely need to have good results," Montoya said. "We got a good race car, and right now we're running really good. Last time we were here, we ran really well, so I'm hoping for the same thing."

New Hampshire begins the 10-race stretch before the Chase begins here on September 18. In last year's fall race at New Hampshire, Montoya finished third after leading the most laps with 105. His first and only Cup victory so far came three years ago on the Sonoma, CA road course.

Montoya topped the charts in the first Cup practice earlier in the day.

"I was surprised we're on the pole," he said. "The first lap was good, but the second lap, I went for it. In [turn] three, I got really loose. I think I lost a bunch of time there, but I think I came off the corner good enough to maintain it."

Kahne qualified 0.04 seconds behind Montoya to capture the outside pole. Kahne will start on the front row for the third time since the May 16 race at Dover.

"I thought it was a pretty decent lap, and I felt really good," Kahne said.

Kurt Busch took the third spot, followed by Mark Martin, who won the most recent race at New Hampshire, and Ryan Newman.

"The car stuck well, even though the track conditions were warmer," said Busch, a three-time race winner at New Hampshire. "I knew I couldn't overdrive the car and expect anymore than what we did in practice."

David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek, Sam Hornish Jr., Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson completed the top-10.

Joey Logano, the defending race winner, qualified 11th. Logano became the youngest driver to win a Cup race when he took last year's rain-shortened event here.

Points leader Kevin Harvick will start 24th. Harvick currently holds a 140- point lead over Johnson.

Travis Kvapil and Mike Bliss failed to qualify.

Sunday's race at New Hampshire is scheduled to start just after 1:00 p.m. (et).

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.