Nominees for 2011 NASCAR HoF class revealed

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/01/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Thursday announced its 25 nominees for the 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class.

Jerry Cook, Jack Ingram, Dale Inman, Fred Lorenzen and T. Wayne Robertson were new names added to the nominee list for the second class. Twenty other names on the list also appeared on the nominee roster for the inaugural induction class, which was revealed one year ago.

In May, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Junior Johnson were inducted as the first class into the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, which opened earlier in the month in Charlotte.

A 21-member committee - consisting of NASCAR officials and industry leaders, as well as owners/operators of current and historic racetracks - determined the nominees.

Next year's five inductees will be selected by a 53-member voting panel made up of NASCAR members, manufacturer representatives, former competitors, the media and fans. The voting will be completed later this year.

The 25 nominees for next year's NASCAR HoF induction class include:

(In alphabetical order)

Bobby Allison - 1983 Cup champion and 84 race wins.

Buck Baker - first driver to win consecutive Cup titles (1956-57).

Red Byron - first Cup champion in 1949.

Richard Childress - team owner who won six titles with driver Dale Earnhardt.

Jerry Cook - six-time Modified stock car champion.

Richie Evans - Modified stock car racing legend who won nine titles.

Tim Flock - Two-time Cup champion (1952, '55) and 39 race wins.

Rick Hendrick - Eight-time Cup championship team owner.

Jack Ingram - two-time Nationwide Series champion (1982, '85).

Dale Inman - eight-time Cup championship crew chief.

Ned Jarrett - Two-time Cup champion (1961, '65) and 50 race wins.

Fred Lorenzen - 26 Cup victories, including Daytona 500 and World 600 wins.

Bud Moore - team owner for 37 years with two Cup championships and 63 wins.

Raymond Parks - team owner who won NASCAR's first title with driver Red Byron.

Benny Parsons - 1973 Cup champion and first driver to qualify a stock car at more than 200 m.p.h.

David Pearson - Three-time Cup champion (1966, '68, '69) and 105 race wins.

Lee Petty - Three-time Cup champion (1954, '58, '59) and winner of first Daytona 500 (1959).

Fireball Roberts - Considered as one of the best drivers to never win a NASCAR title, 33 race wins.

T. Wayne Robertson - helped raise NASCAR popularity as RJ Reynolds Senior VP.

Herb Thomas - Two-time Cup champion (1951, '53) and 48 race wins.

Curtis Turner - Only driver to win 25 major NASCAR races in one season (1956), including 22 in the convertible division

Darrell Waltrip - Three-time Cup champion (1981, '82, '85) and 84 race wins.

Joe Weatherly - Two-time Cup champion (1962-63) and 25 race wins.

Glen Wood - legendary team owner who has been in NASCAR since 1953.

Cale Yarborough - First driver to win three consecutive Cup championships (1976-78).

Footnall365 Autoracing Betting News

<< Wild sign C Cullen
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild have signed forwards Matt Cullen and Eric Nystrom to a pair of three-year contracts. Cullen collected 16 goals and 32 assists over 81 games with Carolina and Ottawa last season.

<< Padres reinstate Stairs, Stauffer from DL
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres reinstated outfielder Matt Stairs and pitcher Tim Stauffer from the 15-day disabled list Thursday. Stairs was dealing with a strained right knee, while Stauffer suffered with append

<< Na Yeon Choi leads Jamie Farr
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Korea's Na Yeon Choi shot a seven-under 64 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Choi had eight birdies and one bogey on the Highland Meadows course to ta

<< Jazz sign draft picks Hayward, Evans
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz announced the signings of their 2010 draft class Thursday, bringing forwards Gordon Hayward and Jeremy Evans on board with undisclosed contracts. Hayward, selected ninth overall, was a

<< Four share AT&T lead; Woods seven back
Newtown Square, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Watney fired a four-under 66 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club. Watney was joined atop the leaderboard by J

New England aims to reverse fortunes at RSL >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday night's Major League Soccer fixture between Real Salt Lake and the New England Revolution will be a battle between teams heading in opposite directions. RSL is coming off three consecutive clean

LeBron meets with Nets, Knicks >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks were the first two teams to attempt to woo LeBron James to join them for the next stage of his superstar career. Both teams met with James in Cleveland on Thursda

Zimmerman's sacrifice fly lifts Nats over Mets >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman's sacrifice fly in the ninth inning sent the Washington Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets to begin a four-game series at Nationals Park. Pedro Feliciano (2-4) came in to

Pirates slip past Phillies >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel McCutchen got his first win of the season and Jose Tabata chased home the eventual go-ahead run in the fourth, as Pittsburgh captured a 3-2 win against the Phillies to open a four-game series at PNC

Sweeney, Cahill lead A's past O's >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Sweeney went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored as Oakland took an 8-1 win over Baltimore in the rubber match at Camden Yards. Jack Cust had two hits, scored twice and drove in two while Clif

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.