Almirola holds off Bodine and Busch for Michigan win

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/12/2010 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aric Almirola captured his second victory in the Camping World Truck Series by taking Saturday's VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

Almirola took the lead for the first time with seven laps to go when he pulled ahead of Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch after they ran three-wide for the top spot. He held off several challenges from Bodine in the final laps before beating him at the finish by 0.111 seconds.

"Our [truck] was not as good as we wanted it to be in the beginning of the race, but [crew chief] Richie Wauters and the guys on our team did a really good job adjusting the truck all day long," Almirola said.

Almirola claimed his first victory in the series last month at Dover. He is driving the No.51 Toyota for Billy Ballew Motorsports full-time this year after he previously shared driving duties with Busch in that truck.

"What an awesome Billy Ballew Motorsports team; It's their first win at Michigan, so I finally did something Kyle didn't do," Almirola added.

Bodine led the most laps with 33, en route to his second place finish, while Busch ended up third in his No.18 Toyota. Busch is in his first year as driver and owner in the series.

"I suck at Michigan," Busch said. "Aric Almirola did it in the 51 [truck]. I've driven it for five years, and couldn't get it."

Four-time and defending series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. took the fourth spot. Austin Dillon, the pole sitter, overcame a pit-road penalty late in the race to settle for a fifth-place finish. Dillon left his stall with the gas can still attached to his car.

Timothy Peters, Jason White, David Starr, Elliott Sadler and Nelson Piquet Jr. completed the top-10.

With the win, Almirola moved to within 55 points of leader Bodine, who won last week at Texas.

After 38 of 100 laps were completed, NASCAR halted the race when a shower moved over the two-mile oval. It was delayed for 40 minutes before racing resumed.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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