Busch, Gibbs address sponsorship change

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/11/2011 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR driver Kyle Busch continued to be apologetic for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in last week's Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Since NASCAR suspended him from last weekend's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races at Texas, Busch spoke with reporters for the first time on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. The sanctioning body took further action on Monday by fining Busch $50,000 and placing him on probation for the remainder of the year.

Mars Inc. and its M&M's brand, which serves as the primary sponsor of Busch's No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team, announced this week that it would not sponsor Busch's efforts in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix as well as the November 20 season-finale at Homestead, FL.

"As a proud member of the racing community, Mars and the M&M's brand strongly support the partnership we have with Joe Gibbs Racing and are committed to NASCAR. Yet, Kyle's recent actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of Mars," Debra A. Sandler, who is the chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America, said in a statement released on Thursday. "While we do not condone Kyle's recent actions, we do believe that he has shown remorse and has expressed a desire to change. We believe our decision will have a positive impact on Kyle and will help him return next season ready to win."

JGR announced that its longtime sponsor, Interstate Batteries, will be featured on the No.18 car at Phoenix and Homestead. Mars will continue its sponsorship with Busch's team during the 2012 season.

After being parked at Texas, Busch dropped from seventh to 11th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship point standings. He has been mathematically eliminated from title contention, as he presently trails leader Carl Edwards by 100 points.

"Obviously, this has been quite a trying week for myself and my wife [Samantha] and everybody at M&M's, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports and Interstate Batteries, all of the above," Busch said. "I'm upmost apologetic to everybody that's been having to go through this situation, and there's no one to blame but myself."

Busch said he had a telephone conversation with Hornaday days after the truck race. He quipped that he "is still invited to [Hornaday's] house."

Team owner Joe Gibbs joined Busch during the press conference, which was held prior to the first Sprint Cup practice held on the newly repaved and reconfigured one-mile Phoenix track.

"Joe has been a huge supporter of mine through all of this, and I can't say enough about him, all the folks at JGR and all the guys on my M&M's team, and we're here to say that we want to learn from this and we'll move on," Busch added.

Gibbs noted that Busch is facing penalties from JGR, including a fine. He would not comment on the details of the forthcoming penalties. Busch will not be relieved from his driving duties with the team after this season concludes.

"Kyle's penalties are going to be substantial," Gibbs said. "We also have other actions that are going to be in place. There will be other financial penalties and stuff that we're working through, and we'll continue to do that as we go forward through this process."

Busch is not competing in Saturday's Nationwide race at Phoenix. Joey Logano was originally scheduled to drive JGR's No.18 car for that event. Busch will not run in the Nationwide season-ending race at Homestead as well.

There had been speculation that Z-Line Designs, the primary sponsor of Busch's Nationwide team, asked JGR to replace Busch with Denny Hamlin in the Homestead race.

"I take the responsibility for a lot of that, because we were kind of wanting to go for the next two races to let Kyle focus on Cup, and so a lot of that came from the race team," Gibbs said.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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