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12/15/2011 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a near two-month investigation, IndyCar revealed a comprehensive review of the 15-car racing accident that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon in the early going of the October 16 season- ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
IndyCar officials stated that Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and former series champion, suffered a "non-survivable head injury" after his No.77 car went airborne and then made impact with a vertical post on the catch fence that's located in the turn-two area of the 1.5-mile racetrack. The pole intruded the cockpit of Wheldon's car, therefore producing life-ending blunt force trauma to his head.
The accident report noted that Wheldon's path on the lower portion of the racetrack was blocked by the multi-car crash he was approaching. Wheldon, who started from the rear of the 34-car field, was running 24th just before the incident occurred on lap 11.
"There are multiple factors that are not uncommon to racing that came together in a way that claimed Dan's life," Brian Barnhart, president of operations for IndyCar, said during a press conference held on Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "It is a tragedy. Our thoughts and support will always be with Dan's family."
IndyCar analyzed data from the accident data recorders carried on board each race car involved in the crash, the on-board data acquisition system from teams, timing and scoring data, video, still photographs, physical evidence and eyewitness reports from participants.
Third-party experts with Indianapolis-based Wolf Technical Services provided independent assurance that the investigation protocol, evidence examined and reviewed, and the conclusions reached were consistent and appropriate to standard scientific and engineering investigation methods.
In what the accident report cited as a "perfect storm," Wheldon's fatal crash involved circumstances of location, direction and orientation on the track that were the chance result of previous car contact.
Examination of video of the incident demonstrated normal "pack racing" that was common on high-banked ovals, but there was almost unlimited movement on the track surface under race conditions not previously experienced that attributed to track geometry beyond banking. This widened the probability for car-to-car contact but made it more difficult for drivers to predict the movement of other competitors. The chances for a multi-car crash were therefore increased.
According to the report, the 34-car starting field was determined to be acceptable based on factors such as length and width of the racetrack and pit space capability. The incident that happened at Las Vegas could have occurred with any size starting field at any track.
Last week, IndyCar announced it would not compete at Las Vegas in 2012. The series was scheduled to run its season-finale there on October 14, but IndyCar and track officials have said considerable testing with the 2012 car is needed prior to returning to the track. Wheldon had been testing the new Dallara chassis prior to his accident.
"IndyCar's commitment to safety was enhanced by Dan Wheldon's testing throughout 2011 of the new car to be used by IndyCar in 2012," Randy Bernhard, the CEO of IndyCar, said. "The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season ushers in an era of a new race car and the opportunity for continued safety advancements.
"Dan Wheldon was instrumental in the testing and development of this new car and the safety innovations that it represents. We are thankful for his efforts and commitment to racing."
The 2012 schedule is expected to be released in the coming days. It's not known yet if Texas Motor Speedway -- a track similar to Las Vegas -- will be on next year's calendar.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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