Montoya grabs pole for Brickyard 400

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting the quickest lap in Saturday's qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Montoya edged defending race winner Jimmie Johnson for the pole with a lap of 182.278 m.p.h. The 34-year-old Colombian claimed his second pole of the season and the fourth of his Sprint Cup Series career. Montoya was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday at Indy.

"Our cars have come a long way," Montoya said. "Last year, we had a really fast car here, and I feel the same way this year. We still got to run the race. It's exciting when you go to a place, especially Indy, and you have a shot at winning and being this competitive."

One year ago, Montoya had the dominant car at Indy, as he led 116 of 160 laps. But Montoya was caught speeding on pit road during the final round of stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty. Johnson went on to claim his third Brickyard 400 victory, while Montoya settled for an 11th-place finish.

Montoya will attempt to become the first driver in history to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indy. He won the Indy 500 in 2000.

His team owner, Chip Ganassi, also will try to become the first owner to win the Daytona 500, as well as the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season. Jamie McMurray won at Daytona for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in February, while Dario Franchitti captured the victory at Indianapolis for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in May.

"Our teams have had a good run of things here," Ganassi said. "We have a race to run tomorrow, and we have lots of goals in mind for the team this season, and this is just one more step today having the pole."

Johnson, the four-time defending series champion, qualified 0.04 seconds behind Montoya to take the outside pole.

"This qualifying session means a lot to people, not only for the track position and the pit stall, but it's just Indy," Johnson said.

Mark Martin, who won the pole at Indy last year, took the third spot, while Montoya's teammate, McMurray, claimed the fourth position.

"I had such a good race car that it didn't have to be perfect, but it was a good lap," Martin said. "We had no mistakes, but just tried to get a little too much in turn four."

Ryan Newman will start fifth, and Clint Bowyer will roll off sixth. Chevrolet swept the top-six starting positions for this race.

Greg Biffle gave Ford its best qualifying performance at Indy with a seventh starting spot.

Chevrolet drivers Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton completed the top-10. Harvick currently holds a 103-point lead over Gordon, who is a four- time Brickyard 400 winner.

David Gilliland, Casey Mears, David Stremme and J.J. Yeley failed to qualify.

Final practice at Indy is slated for later in the day, and Sunday's 400-mile race is scheduled to start around 1:00 p.m. (et).

Myspotsbook Autoracing Betting News

<< Melzer to face Golubev for Hamburg crown
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev will square off for the title at the German Open after both won semifinal matches on Saturday. The third-seeded Melzer blitzed Italy's Andreas Se

<< Yankees activate Mitre; Gardner hospitalized
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have activated pitcher Sergio Mitre off the 15-day disabled list to start Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals. Mitre had been sidelined since early June with a strained

<< Buchholz returns for Rockies
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have activated pitcher Taylor Buchholz off the 60-day disabled list. Buchholz has not pitched in the majors since September 9, 2008. He sat out all of last season because of e

<< Bacsinszky beats Meusburger in rainy Austria
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the semifinals of the Gastein Ladies tennis tournament on Saturday. The second-seeded Bacsinszky rallied for a 1-

<< Pressel back in front in France
Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morgan Pressel eagled the final hole Saturday for a five-under 67 and the third-round lead of the Evian Masters. Pressel, who shared the first-round lead at Evian Masters Golf Club, fini

Langer builds 3-shot lead at Senior British >>
Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer built a three-shot lead at the Senior British Open on Saturday after carding a two-under 69 in the third round. Chasing his first major on the Champions Tour, Langer finished

A's place Sheets on DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed starting pitcher Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow. The move is retroactive to July 20, and the team recalled pitcher Cedrick Bowers from Tri

Padres reinstate Latos from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres reinstated pitcher Mat Latos from the 15-day disabled list to make Saturday's start against the Pirates. Latos was disabled on July 16, retroactive to July 9, with a strained

Brazil names Menezes new coach >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil named Mano Menezes the new coach of its national team Saturday, and signed him to a contract through the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Muricy Ramalho was the first choice to replace Dunga, w

Manchester City signs Serbia defender Kolarov >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City added its fourth new player of the offseason Saturday, signing Serbia defender Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio for $25 million. Kolarov, 24, played two games for Serbia at the recent

Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.