Jeff Gordon became driver enemy number one at Sonoma

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup champion and a five-time race winner at Infineon Raceway, but at the conclusion of Sunday's race at the Northern California road course, Gordon was a marked man in the garage.

Several drivers, particularly Martin Truex Jr., were furious with Gordon's aggressive driving throughout the 110-lap race. Following the second restart on lap 61, Truex was running among the top-10, but Gordon slammed into the back of him and turned him around.

Truex fell back to the middle of the field, but shortly after, the Michael Waltrip Racing driver was caught in a five-car pileup, which ended his day prematurely.

"We got put in by Jeff Gordon, and getting spun out there on that restart is what got us in the back there," an angry Truex said. "I guess Jeff figured he couldn't catch us on the race track, so he was going to spin us out on the restart."

Truex felt there was no excuse for Gordon's actions.

"Now I know he's going to say Juan [Pablo Montoya] was trying to pass me, and I was trying to block him," Truex said. "I don't care. Just because he's trying to pass you, it's all right for you to spin me out? No. Let him pass you then. I would have let Juan pass me. If it was either get passed or spin out Jeff Gordon, I would have lifted and get passed. That's the difference between me and him. That's why I'm here, that's why he's out there and that's why I'm [ticked] off."

Truex wound up finishing 42nd, which put a serious dent in his bid to qualify for this year's championship Chase. He fell three spots in the standings to 19th, and trails current 12th-place driver Carl Edwards by 157 points, as 10 races remain before the cutoff for the Chase. Truex held the 12th spot in points one month ago.

After finishing fifth, Gordon, whose hometown is in nearby Vallejo, CA, admitted his carelessness on the track and understood that Truex should be irate with him.

"I certainly owe Martin Truex and apology," Gordon said. "He was just racing as clean as he could, and I was racing with [Montoya], and I just got in there and took him straight out. I feel awful about that."

But has Gordon's apology resolved the issue, or does Truex plan on future payback?

"It's all right; we'll get him," Truex said.

And Gordon knows it maybe happen soon.

"Whatever is coming back to me, I understand," he said.

Truex was not the only driver who had a run-in with Gordon at Sonoma. Gordon also tangled with Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and road-racing expert Mattias Ekstrom before spoiling Elliott Sadler's strong run late in the race.

Gordon turned Sadler around while he was running inside the top-10 with 11 laps remaining. Sadler approached Gordon and had a few words with him at the conclusion of the race.

"We got taken out by Gordon, and it's just frustrating," said Sadler, who finished 17th. "This is one of the best tracks for us and one of the good chances we had this year for a top 10. It's a shame. He took out Martin Truex for no reason."

Gordon has been the center of other on-track skirmishes this season, particularly with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who won at Sonoma for the first time. Johnson and Gordon were disappointed in each other after they made contact while battling for Tony Stewart for the lead late in the April 19 race at Texas. One week later, disappointment turned into anger between the teammates when they banged into each other again in the closing laps at Talladega.

In March, Gordon and Matt Kenseth renewed their ongoing rivalry when Gordon shoved Kenseth up the track and into the wall with less than two laps remaining at Martinsville. Kenseth was leading before the incident, but wound up finishing 18th, while Gordon came in third.

It's not even halfway through the season, and Gordon has adapted well to NASCAR's "boys, have at it" theme this year.

For a driver looking to snap a winless streak that stretches back to April 2009, perhaps Gordon should cool it a bit before someone gives him a taste of his own medicine.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.