Johnson, No.48 team the next dynasty in professional sports

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/17/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After capturing his third-consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and his No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crew have not only established themselves as one of the greatest teams in NASCAR, but as the latest in a string of professional sports dynasties.

Johnson finished 15th in the season-ending Ford 400, and clinched his third title in a row, finishing the season 69 points ahead of Carl Edwards, who won at Homestead for his series-leading ninth victory of the year. Johnson became just the second driver in NASCAR's 60-year history to win three straight titles, matching Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record.

"Right now we've been fortunate to win three," Johnson said. "So over the off season I'm going to be drooling about a fourth. It's not really where I fall into the books. It's more about what I want to be as a champion."

Johnson ended the year with seven victories and 22 top-10 finishes, but his season started off sluggish as he held the ninth position in points after finishing a season-worst 39th in the May 25th Coca-Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. His turnaround began in July when he survived the "tire debacle" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to win the Allstate 400. He won the final two races of the regular season, California and Richmond, to start the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" as the third seed.

Kyle Busch entered the Chase atop the standings and was one of the favorites to win the title after scoring eight victories for the season. But Busch quickly fell out of contention when he finished 34th at New Hampshire and then 43rd at Dover.

Johnson won at Kansas, the third race in the Chase, grabbing the points lead for the first time this season. After Edwards wrecked at Talladega and suffered mechanical problems at Charlotte, resulting in poor finishes at both tracks, Johnson was well ahead in the standings.

Edwards won three of the last four races, but came up short of spoiling Johnson's record-tying feat.

Johnson's championships have come under the guidance and hard work of pit boss extraordinaire Chad Knaus, who became the first crew chief in NASCAR's premier series to win three straight titles.

"I've been fortunate to work with really great race car drivers," Knaus said. "I worked with Jeff Gordon in the 24 car. I've seen what Jeff can do with a race car, and I've got a lot of respect for what Jeff can do."

Knaus has been Johnson's crew chief since 2002, but also served as a tire changer for Gordon and the original "Rainbow Warriors" pit crew when Gordon won his championships in 1995, '97 and '98.

"To be able to work with Jimmie, he's definitely brought it to a new level," he said. "But I'm also a lot more entwined than I was back then, with what's going on. In my eyes he's the best that there's been...People are going to say Richard Petty is, Dale Earnhardt and all those guys. But with the competition level the way it is today with what you've got to do working, racing day in and day out, no time to take time off, in my mind, (Jimmie) is the best."

Johnson's team joins the likes of other championship-winning greats in the U.S. this past decade such as the Los Angeles Lakers, winning three straight NBA Finals from 2000-02, and the New York Yankees, taking the World Series consecutively from 1998-2000.

Also, the championship achievements of Formula One legends Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio as well as National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) great John Force have been engraved in motorsports history.

Schumacher, the seven-time F1 World Champion from Germany, is arguably the world's best race car driver ever. He won five straight titles from 2000-04, and holds the F1 record for most career victories with 91.

Affectionately known as "bandy legs" by his many fans, Fangio captured four- consecutive World Championships from 1954-57.

Force won an unprecedented 14 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series championships from 1990-2006, including 10 straight titles (1993-2002). He holds the series record for most wins (126) and final rounds (202).

Now, Johnson will try to join those men in the four-plus titles category.

As Johnson and his team celebrated their third championship at the conclusion of Sunday's race at Homestead, one thing was already on their mind, winning a fourth title.

"I think from a driver's standpoint, I could go race again next week and start the season and go for four," Johnson said.

Perhaps no one on the team is more optimistic about making history in 2009 than Knaus.

"Yeah, we want four," Knaus said. "To get four championships in a row you have to get three. And we're fortunate to get three. If we buckle down and do what we need to do, we'll be in contention for our fourth championship next year. If that means I have to get up at eight o'clock tomorrow morning and go to work to do it, I'll do it."

If Johnson can win his fourth straight championship next year, it will certainly make for a strong argument that he is the best NASCAR driver of all time.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.