Logano looking to go 3-for-3 at Kentucky

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/08/2010 - Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, June 12. Race: Meijer 300. Site: Kentucky Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. 2009 winner: Joey Logano. Television: ESPN. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

This weekend's race at Kentucky is the second in a stretch of three consecutive stand-alone events for the Nationwide Series. After last week's Nashville-Pocono combo, three of the four double-duty drivers were tops at Nashville. Brad Keselowski won there, while Carl Edwards finished second and Paul Menard took third. Michael McDowell crashed midway through the race and ended up finishing 30th.

With the win, Keselowski increased his lead to 196 points over Kyle Busch, who remained second in the standings, despite not competing at Nashville. Busch, the 2009 Nationwide champion, only raced at Pocono in order to focus on his Sprint Cup Series efforts this season.

Brad Coleman drove Busch's No.18 Toyota to a sixth-place finish at Nashville. Coleman also will drive the car at Kentucky.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, will join the group of drivers doing the Kentucky-Michigan duo.

Kentucky/Michigan is the first time this season that Logano will attempt double duty at two different tracks. He will practice and qualify for the 400- mile Sprint Cup race at Michigan on Friday afternoon before traveling to Kentucky to practice for the Nationwide event there later in the evening. Logano will then return to Michigan that night to be able to participate in Saturday morning's final Cup practice. He will fly back to Kentucky in time to qualify for the 300-mile Nationwide race. However, JGR development driver Matt DiBenedetto will be on standby.

Logano has started on the pole and won the last two Nationwide races at Kentucky. In 2008, he became the youngest race winner in the series at age 18 years and 21 days.

"I'm pumped to head back to Kentucky Speedway," Logano said. "That place holds a lot of special memories for me. It's the track that I got my first Nationwide Series win, and it's the track that I first tested a Sprint Cup car. It's my most successful track. There are not a lot of drivers out there that can go to a track more than once and say that they are batting 1.000."

Logano is the only repeat winner there.

Kentucky also will be the second of four "Dash 4 Cash" races on the 2010 Nationwide schedule. Nationwide Insurance sponsors the bonus program, with eligible drivers having an opportunity to collect an extra $25,000 if they win. Drivers who qualify include: full-time and part-time/limited schedule series-only regulars, as well as double-duty drivers who competed in every series event.

Kevin Harvick won the first "Dash 4 Cash" event this season in April at Nashville. Harvick, who was a full-time Nationwide driver at the time, collected the money award. He is not competing at Kentucky, which is probably a good thing for Logano.

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Meijer 300.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.