Championship leaders start on front row for truck race

Autoracing Betting Lines

10/27/2007 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. edged points leader Mike Skinner for the pole in Saturday afternoon's EasyCare 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No.33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet circled the fast 1.54-mile track in 30.517 seconds (181.669 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Hornaday Jr.'s first of the season and 14th of his truck career. His last pole win was in 2006 at Milwaukee.

Starting with Hornaday Jr. on the front row will be his championship rival Skinner, who posted a time of 30.545 seconds.

With four races left in the season, Skinner and Hornaday Jr. are locked in a struggle of former champions. Skinner, the 1995 champion, had been the series leader for most of the season. After winning three of four races to start the season, the Bill Davis Racing Toyota driver has led the series for 16 of 21 weeks.

But Hornaday Jr. (1996 and 1998 champion) has also had a great season and last month caught Skinner. After finishing second at the Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at the Gateway International Raceway, the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet driver grabbed the lead from Skinner and has held it for three of the last five events. But despite finishing a solid third last Saturday, Hornaday Jr. lost the series lead as Skinner won for the fifth time this year and the 24th time in his truck career.

Skinner will bring an 11-point margin to AMS for this afternoon's race. Neither driver was particularly good in last year's event - Skinner finished eighth and Hornaday Jr. 13th. But in the March race, Skinner was a relatively easy winner while Hornaday Jr. again finished outside the top-10.

Nextel Cup regular Kyle Busch (30.550) and Todd Bodine (30.570) will make up row two.

The race is set to drop the green flag on Saturday at 1 p.m. (et).

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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