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08/24/2010 - Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Friday, August 27. Race: EnjoyIllinois.com 225. Site: Chicagoland Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 9:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 150. Miles: 225. 2009 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: SPEED. Radio: Motor Racing Network(MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
What a week it was for Kyle Busch at Bristol.
Busch's win in the Camping World Truck Series race last Wednesday kicked off his historical three-race sweep at Bristol. He became the first driver to win all three of NASCAR's national touring series races in the same week.
While the Sprint Cup Series takes its last open weekend of the season, Busch will try to win his fourth national series race in a row at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway.
Busch will attempt to defend his title in the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland. One year ago, he led the most laps with 79 and then held off Todd Bodine after the final restart with seven laps remaining to win the inaugural Truck Series race here.
"Chicago is always fun because my parents are from that area and so are my fiancee's parents," Busch said. "It has a lot of history and family ties. I think we think we have a good shot, and with a new sponsor on board [Traxxas RC cars], we have a good chance at winning and making it four [national series wins] in a row."
With nine races to go in the season, Bodine holds a comfortable 211-point lead over Aric Almirola.
Bodine leads all drivers in the series with 11 wins on 1.5-mile tracks. He won at Texas Motor Speedway in June. Bodine finished second at Chicagoland last year.
"We had a really good truck last year, but we got beat on a restart," Bodine said.
The 225-mile truck race will run under the lights at Chicagoland on Friday, the night before the IZOD IndyCar Series competes here.
Thirty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the EnjoyIllinois.com 225.
<< Red Sox activate C Cash
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have activated catcher Kevin
Cash from the 15-day disabled list.
To make room for Cash, the Red Sox optioned catcher Dusty Brown to Triple-A
Pawtucket after Monday's win over Seattle.
C
<< Tigers' Ordonez to have ankle surgery
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez will
undergo a procedure on Wednesday to stabilize his broken right ankle.
Ordonez was examined by foot/ankle specialist Dr. Phillip Kwong of the Kerlan-
Jobe Clinic
<< This Week in Auto Racing August 27 - 29
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes its
final off-week of the season, but there's still plenty of racing action this
weekend. While the Nationwide Series heads north of the border to Montreal,
the Ca
<< Kinsler resumes activity after positive MRI
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was
cleared to further resume baseball activities after an MRI revealed
improvement in his injured groin.
Kinsler had the exam early on Tuesday, and ac
Reds put Edmonds on DL >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds have placed
outfielder Jim Edmonds on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique
strain.
Edmonds, who the Reds acquired from Milwaukee earlier this month, has bat
Mariners-Red Sox game rained out; day-night DH set for Wednesday >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday's scheduled game between the Seattle
Mariners and Boston Red Sox has been postponed because of rain.
The contest will instead be played Wednesday as part of a day-night
doubleheader. The f
Cards place pitcher Reyes on DL >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis placed southpaw relief pitcher
Dennys Reyes on the 15-day disabled list with a left elbow strain Tuesday.
The move, retroactive to August 16, leaves a gap on the roster that will be
filled
Rangers purchase Cora's contract, designate Arias >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have purchased the contract
of infielder Alex Cora from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Cora, who the Rangers signed to a minor league deal last week, played in 62
games for the New York Mets thi
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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