IndyCar returns to U.S. with Mid-Ohio

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/03/2010 - Lexington, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IZOD IndyCar. Date: Sunday, August 8. Race: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Site: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Track: 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. Start Time: 3:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 85. Miles: 191.25. 2009 winner: Scott Dixon. Television: VERSUS. Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite.

After running its last two races in Canada, the IZOD IndyCar Series returns to the United States with this weekend's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Mid-Ohio is the eighth of nine road/street course events on this year's schedule. The series will conclude road/street course racing for the season in two weeks at Sonoma, CA.

Last month's race at Edmonton turned out to be a bizarre finish and an expensive outcome for Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves.

Castroneves was leading in the closing laps at Edmonton when he was issued a black flag for blocking his teammate, Will Power, just after the final restart. He failed to take the drive-through pit-lane penalty.

At the conclusion of the race, Castroneves was penalized 20 seconds and placed at the tail end of the lead lap, which resulted in a 10th-place finish. Castroneves had crossed the line first, but Scott Dixon was awarded the win.

Castroneves was furious with the outcome of the race. He confronted two officials on pit road and made physical contact with one of them after he exited his car.

As a result, IndyCar officials earlier this week fined Castroneves $60,000 and placed him on probation for the remainder of the year for his post-race outburst at Edmonton. The Brazilian driver recently met with officials in Indianapolis to discuss his actions.

"I regret what occurred following the IZOD IndyCar Series race in Edmonton, and I apologize for my behavior, as I let my emotions get the better of me," Castroneves said in a statement. "Although my disappointment with being black- flagged while leading the race with just a few laps to go will probably always remain with me, I understand and accept the league's decision to penalize me for my reaction.

"I am ready to move forward, and I'm hoping to add to Team Penske's success at Mid-Ohio this weekend."

Heading to Mid-Ohio, Power holds a 50-point lead over Dario Franchitti, the defending series champion, and a 71-point advantage over Dixon, who is Franchitti's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate.

Power could clinch the series' new road/street course championship on Sunday. Earlier this year, IndyCar announced the expansion of its championship format, with the highest-scoring oval and road/street course drivers winning separate titles, starting this season.

So far, Power has won four road/street course events -- Sao Paulo, Brazil; St. Petersburg, FL; Watkins, NY and Toronto.

After Sonoma, the series will run its final four races on ovals.

The October 2 season-finale at Homestead will determine the oval titleholder and the overall IndyCar champion.

Dixon won last year's race at Mid-Ohio. He also scored the victory in the inaugural event here in 2007.

Twenty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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