11/14/2008 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Skinner captured the pole for tonight's season-ending Ford 200 Truck Series race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and the final event for Craftsman as the series title sponsor. The No.5 Toyota driver circled the 1.5-mile oval in 32.221 seconds (167.593 m.p.h.)
The pole victory was Skinner's fourth of the season and the 47th of his career, extending his pole record in the series.
"When they brought the spacer plate along, it's now at these big race tracks where everybody is holding it wide open," Skinner said. "And Homestead is one of those race tracks it's hard to hold wide open, and we were able to do it. I guess that's why we're on the pole."
Meanwhile, the battle for the championship will be settled at Homestead as Johnny Benson enters the race with only a three point lead over defending series champion Ron Hornaday, Jr., making it the closest margin heading into the season-finale.
Hornaday, Jr. will start fourth after posting a time of 32.381 seconds.
"We know what we've got to do," Hornaday said. "Knowing Johnny, they've got their truck a lot better, so I'm looking forward to a good race."
If Hornaday captures the title, he will become the series' only four-time and back-to-back champion, as well as NASCAR's oldest national series titleholder at 50 years, four months and 25 days. Ted Musgrave became NASCAR's eldest champion when he won the 2005 Craftsman Truck Series title at 49 years, 11 months and one day.
Benson is aiming for his second NASCAR national series title as he has won the Nationwide championship in 1995.
Benson will roll off four spots behind Hornaday in eighth.
"Our truck is decent but still a little loose right now," he said. "It's a lot better off than it was yesterday. Let's just hope we race well."
Greg Biffle is the only driver to win both a Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series title.
Benson is the defending winner at Homestead.
Hornaday entered last year's season-finale 29 points behind leader Mike Skinner, but Skinner lost the title when he suffered a flat tire early in the race and then encountered another wheel problem during the mid-stages, resulting in a 35th-place finish. Hornaday came in seventh and ended the year 54 points ahead of Skinner.
Joining Skinner on the outside pole will be Colin Braun (32.225). Sprint Cup regular Kevin Harvick (32.300) will start third.
Craftsman is ending their 14-year sponsorship with the Truck Series at the conclusion of this season. Camping World will serve as the series title sponsor starting in 2009.
The green flag for tonight's race is scheduled to drop around 8:00 p.m. (et).
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The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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