Truex Jr. on top at TMS

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11/02/2007 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sun began to set, the track got cooler and Martin Truex Jr. took advantage of the situation winning the pole for Sunday's Dickies 500 Nextel Cup race at the Texas Motor Speedway, the eighth of 10 races that make up the Chase for the Nextel Cup. The No.1 DEI Chevrolet grabbed the top spot with a best lap of 27.964 seconds (193.105 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was the first of Truex Jr.'s Cup career.

"It's awesome, we've been trying to do this for a while," said Truex Jr. "We've been second a bunch this year. That's the way to start off our weekend and one of these days we're going to finish one off too."

Starting alongside Truex Jr. will be points leader Jeff Gordon who posted a time of 28.063 seconds. Gordon was fastest in the final practice and had already won seven pole awards this season so Truex Jr. wasn't assured of his win until Gordon came up just short in one of the final two qualifying attempts of the afternoon.

Juan Pablo Montoya (28.064) and Kevin Harvick (28.090) will make up row two.

"Everybody did an amazing job...and it puts us in a good position for the race," said Montoya.

The remainder of the "Chase" field will start in the following order: Kurt Busch (sixth), Denny Hamlin (seventh), Jimmie Johnson (eighth), Tony Stewart (15th), Kyle Busch (17th), Matt Kenseth (18th), Carl Edwards (21st), Jeff Burton (27th), Clint Bowyer (29th),

Johnson's second consecutive win, and series-leading eighth of the season, cut 44 points off his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon's lead to close within nine points of the four-time series champion.

It's not a fluke that Gordon and Johnson are one-two. The statistics bare out that the two friends should be there.

Gordon has six wins, 20 top-fives and 27 top-10s in 33 events. He has led a series-leading 1,280 laps out of 9,669, (13.24%). He leads in pole wins (7). He has finished worse than 12th just four times all season.

Johnson has eight wins among his 18 top-fives and 21 top-10s. He is second to Gordon in laps led with 1,225 (12.67%).

By contrast Bowyer, who is in third place overall -111 points back, has just one win, five top-fives and 17 top-10s.

Surprisingly, despite 81 career wins (sixth all-time), Gordon has never won a pole or a race at the Texas Motor Speedway. He did finish second in April 2002 and has six top-10s in 13 career starts. Johnson has similar statistics at TMS - no poles, no wins, but six top-10s in eight career starts.

The race is scheduled to begin on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (et).

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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