Hamlin captures first Truck Series win at Martinsville

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/29/2011 - Martinsville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Virginia-native Denny Hamlin became a first-time race winner in the Camping World Truck Series by taking Saturday's Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Hamlin, a Sprint Cup Series regular, dove underneath points leader Austin Dillon and Ron Hornaday Jr. during a three-wide pass for the lead just after a restart with 14 laps remaining. His first win came in his 12th truck start.

He drove the No.18 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Hamlin and Busch are teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing.

"I can't say enough for everyone here at KBM and for Kyle letting me drive this truck," Hamlin said. "It really means a lot to me to get my first truck victory."

Hamlin became the 23rd different driver to win a race in each of NASCAR's three national touring series. He has four Sprint Cup victories at this 0.526- mile track.

"I just gave it everything I had during the last 50 laps; it was the hardest 50 laps I've ever driven at Martinsville," he said.

Hornaday finished second, while Dillon took the third spot. Johnny Sauter and rookie Joey Coulter rounded out the top-five.

Kevin Harvick, Cale Gale, Timothy Peters, Brendan Gaughan and James Buescher finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

With two races remaining, Dillon holds an 11-point lead over Buescher. Hornaday and Sauter are both 15 points behind.

"It was wild," Dillon said. "There were a lot of wrecks, and there weren't that many cautions thrown...I really had fun today. We finished third, and it was good for us in points."

Hornaday has finished either first or second in the last four races, as he continues his surge towards a record-extending fifth championship in the series.

"It was a great day," he said. "Stupid me, I started the race and forgot to turn the blowers on for about 30 laps, and I lost my pedal. Luckily, the yellow came out, and it came back a little bit."

The 200-lap race at Martinsville featured nine cautions for 50 laps. One of the cautions involved Germain Racing teammates Todd Bodine and Max Papis. Bodine got into the back of Papis and turned him around. Both drivers tangled again on pit road shortly after their incident.

"I can deal with things on the racetrack, but when you put a pit crew in danger on pit road for absolutely no reason, especially with a teammate, I just can't stand that," Bodine said. "I used to be that guy out there changing the tires. I did that for many years. That's a dangerous place enough without having a driver doing dumb things like that."

Bodine finished 11th, while Papis settled for 18th. There was no altercation between the two after the race had concluded.

The series will run at Texas on Friday and then conclude its season on November 19 at Homestead.

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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.