Biffle leads 1-2-3 sweep in Texas qualifying

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/04/2011 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Biffle claimed the pole for the AAA Texas 500 after beating his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, David Ragan, by the slimmest of margins in Friday's qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway.

Biffle, who was quickest in practice earlier in the day, turned a lap at 193.736 mph around the fast 1.5-mile track for his third pole of the season and the ninth of his Sprint Cup Series career. He won the spring 2005 race at Texas.

"Being a former winner here and running good at this racetrack, that gives me a lot of confidence going into this weekend," Biffle said. "The car was really fast right off the track."

Biffle's lap, the fastest in all of the Sprint Cup qualifying sessions so far this year, was only 0.001 seconds quicker than Ragan's lap.

"I didn't really think we would have a shot at the pole going into qualifying," Ragan said. "That was close. I told Greg that he just barely beat me. That's cool to be that fast in qualifying."

Biffle and Ragan are not in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.

Matt Kenseth, also from Roush Fenway, was the highest finishing Chase driver in qualifying with a third-place showing. Kenseth won here in April.

Paul Menard took the fourth spot, while Tony Stewart, who won last Sunday at Martinsville, qualified fifth.

David Reutimann, Carl Edwards, the current points leader, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Regan Smith completed the top-10.

With three races to go, Edwards holds just an eight-point advantage over Stewart. Edwards has the most victories at Texas with three.

"We wanted to be a little bit better than that," Edwards said after his seventh-place finish in qualifying. "It is a good starting spot. We focused hard on qualifying here. We had an opportunity to go out there and sit on the pole. And now we just work on the race trim."

Kevin Harvick, who is 21 points behind Edwards, qualified 21st. Keselowski is 27 points out of the lead, while Kenseth trails his teammate by 36 markers.

David Stremme, David Starr and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify.

Sunday's 500-mile race at Texas is scheduled to start just after 3:00 p.m. (et).

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Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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