NASCAR releases 2011 schedules for top three series

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/18/2010 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Wednesday officially released its 2011 schedule for all three of its national touring series. As expected, there are several major changes to next year's schedule, particularly in the Sprint Cup Series.

The 36-race Sprint Cup schedule will feature two realigned events. For the first time in a decade, the series will add a new track to the schedule. Kentucky Speedway will host its inaugural race on July 9, while a second Kansas Speedway date will be held on June 5, the week after the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Phoenix International Raceway will move its first date to February 27, the week after the season-opening Daytona 500. PIR will replace Southern California's Auto Club Speedway, which will switch to later in the season on March 27. Texas Motor Speedway fills in the vacated Phoenix spot and will host its first night-time Sprint Cup race on April 9.

The 2011 "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship -- the final 10 Cup races of the season -- will begin at Chicagoland Speedway on September 18. Chicagoland's previous race date was in early July, a slot that went to the realigned event at Kentucky. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which previously had the first Chase date, will now have the second playoff race on September 25. The race weekends for Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway during the Chase will swap, with Talladega running the week before Martinsville.

"The adjustments and realignment of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will make for an exciting race season next year," NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Brian France said in a statement. "The revised schedule provides better situated dates for the tracks, a more challenging lineup for the drivers and ultimately more intrigue for the fans."

A second race added to both Iowa Speedway and Chicagoland highlight the changes in next year's Nationwide Series schedule. Iowa will host its Nationwide dates on May 22 and August 6, while Chicagoland will be held on June 4 and September 17, which is the day before the Chase begins at that track.

The previous stand-alone event at Kentucky Speedway now will be part of the inaugural Sprint Cup race weekend on July 8.

Next year's Nationwide schedule will consist of 34 races, all featuring the new car that is being run a total of four times this season.

Twenty-four races on next year's Camping World Truck Series schedule have been revealed, with an additional race to be announced on a later date.

Phoenix's truck date will move to February. The Arizona track traditionally hosted the penultimate truck race in November. Darlington will switch from August to March, while Michigan will shift from June to August.

2011 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Site

Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, Daytona International Speedway*

Feb. 20 Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 27 Phoenix International Raceway

March 6 Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 20 Bristol Motor Speedway

March 27 Auto Club Speedway

April 3 Martinsville Speedway

April 9 Texas Motor Speedway

April 17 Talladega Superspeedway

April 30 Richmond International Raceway

May 7 Darlington Raceway

May 15 Dover International Speedway

May 21 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Charlotte Motor Speedway*

May 29 Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 5 Kansas Speedway

June 12 Pocono Raceway

June 19 Michigan International Speedway

June 26 Infineon Raceway

July 2 Daytona International Speedway

July 9 Kentucky Speedway

July 17 New Hampshire Motor Speedway

July 31 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Aug. 7 Pocono Raceway

Aug. 14 Watkins Glen International

Aug. 21 Michigan International Speedway

Aug. 27 Bristol Motor Speedway

Sept. 4 Atlanta Motor Speedway

Sept. 10 Richmond International Raceway

Sept. 18 Chicagoland Speedway

Sept. 25 New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Oct. 2 Dover International Speedway

Oct. 9 Kansas Speedway

Oct. 15 Charlotte Motor Speedway

Oct. 23 Talladega Superspeedway

Oct. 30 Martinsville Speedway

Nov. 6 Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 13 Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 20 Homestead-Miami Speedway

* Denotes non-points event.

2011 NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Site

Feb. 19 Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 26 Phoenix International Raceway

March 5 Las Vegas Motor Speedway

March 19 Bristol Motor Speedway

March 26 Auto Club Speedway

April 8 Texas Motor Speedway

April 16 Talladega Superspeedway

April 23 Nashville Superspeedway

April 29 Richmond International Raceway

May 6 Darlington Raceway

May 14 Dover International Speedway

May 22 Iowa Speedway

May 28 Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 4 Chicagoland Speedway

June 18 Michigan International Speedway

June 25 Road America

July 1 Daytona International Speedway

July 8 Kentucky Speedway

July 16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway

July 23 Nashville Superspeedway

July 30 O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis

Aug. 6 Iowa Speedway

Aug. 13 Watkins Glen International

Aug. 20 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Aug. 26 Bristol Motor Speedway

Sept. 3 Atlanta Motor Speedway

Sept. 9 Richmond International Raceway

Sept 17 Chicagoland Speedway

Oct. 1 Dover International Speedway

Oct. 8 Kansas Speedway

Oct. 14 Charlotte Motor Speedway

Nov. 5 Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 12 Phoenix International Raceway

Nov. 19 Homestead-Miami Speedway

2011 NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE

Date Site

Feb. 18 Daytona International Speedway

Feb. 25 Phoenix International Raceway

March 12 Darlington Raceway

April 2 Martinsville Speedway

April 22 Nashville Superspeedway

May 13 Dover International Speedway

May 20 Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 4 Kansas Speedway

June 10 Texas Motor Speedway

July 16 Iowa Speedway

July 22 Nashville Superspeedway

July 29 O'Reilly Raceway Park

Aug. 6 Pocono Raceway

Aug. 20 Michigan International Speedway

Aug. 24 Bristol Motor Speedway

Sept. 2 Atlanta Motor Speedway

Sept. 16 Chicagoland Speedway

Sept. 24 New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Oct. 1 Kentucky Speedway

Oct. 15 Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Oct. 22 Talladega Superspeedway

Oct. 29 Martinsville Speedway

Nov. 4 Texas Motor Speedway

Nov. 18 Homestead-Miami Speedway

Note: one additional Camping World Truck Series date to be added.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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