Earnhardt Jr. tops in qualifying at Atlanta

Autoracing Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 with a blazing lap in Friday's qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr.'s lap of 192.761 m.p.h. set a record for the fastest qualifying speed in the new Sprint Cup Series car -- the Car of Tomorrow. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, held the record with a lap of 192.376 m.p.h. last October at Charlotte.

"It's really fast," Earnhardt Jr. said of his qualifying lap around the 1.54- mile track. "You just got to hang on. I think there's a lot of cars that can run that fast, but you just got to hang on to it."

Earnhardt Jr. recorded his ninth career Cup pole, but his first since April 2008 at Texas. He also won the pole at Atlanta in November 2001.

Since his disappointing 25th-place finish in points last year, team owner Rick Hendrick has made his priority to turn around Earnhardt Jr.'s team. NASCAR's most popular driver has begun this season with two front starting row positions in the first four races. He started on the outside pole at Daytona.

"I feel pretty confident with this group," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They're a lot of fun, and we're building some pretty good relationships. The changes we have made have given us a lot of confidence, and we can go out on the racetrack and do some good things to help build it."

Kyle Busch will start on the outside pole after posting a lap of 192.280 m.p.h.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualified third, followed by Hendrick drivers Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. Martin won the pole here one year ago.

Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, David Reutimann and Carl Edwards completed the top-10.

Kurt Busch, the defending race winner, will start 11th.

Johnson was the slowest among the Hendrick cars, as he qualified 16th. The four-time defending series champion has won the last two races -- Las Vegas and California.

"I don't know why I was slow," Johnson said. "It was a decent lap. We were concerned about overdriving in [turn] three, so I might have been a little bit conservative there."

Aric Almirola, Casey Mears and Terry Cook failed to qualify.

Sunday's 500-mile race at Atlanta is scheduled to start around 1:00 p.m. (et).

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

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NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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