Stewart wins pole for Camping World 300

Autoracing Betting Lines

02/15/2008 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart won the pole for Saturday afternoon's Camping World 300 at the Daytona International Speedway. The No.20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver circled the 2.5-mile oval in 49.741 seconds (180.937 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was the fifth of Stewart's Nationwide career and first since Watkins Glen in 2005.

"It was really fast in drafting practice, these guys at JGR did a great job," said Stewart.

Starting alongside Stewart will be Clint Bowyer, who posted a time of 49.972 seconds.

Jason Leffler (49.987) and Dario Franchitti (50.084) will make up row two.

The Nationwide Series (formerly known as the Busch Series) is preparing for another season in which the Sprint Cup drivers will dominate the series.

Defending Series champion Carl Edwards is back for another season and should vie for another title. His likely competition will come from RCR's Bowyer and the Toyota of David Reutimann.

Bowyer has vowed to run in the Nationwide Series until he wins a title. It's an important career goal for him. Last season, Bowyer finished 12th overall, but only ran 22 of 35 events. He won twice and collected a stunning 19 top-10s. If he can manage to make it to every starting line, he can certainly compete with Edwards for the crown.

Reutimann finished second to Edwards although his numbers were not as consistent as Bowyer. He made all 35 starts, but earned just 12 top-10s and one win (at Memphis). Jason Leffler finished third overall, in another Toyota, giving the novice manufacturer a realistic chance at the title.

Last year, Kevin Harvick won the season opener as he swept both the Nationwide and Sprint events. Harvick edged Dave Blaney by 0.284 seconds. Edwards finished third, the first of 10 consecutive top-10s which propelled him to a huge series lead and eventually the championship.

The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. (et).

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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