Sprint Cup qualifying at Watkins Glen rained out

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rain forced cancellation of Friday's qualifying for the Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. Morning practice was also scrubbed because of inclement weather.

By rule, the starting grid for Sunday's race at Watkins Glen will be set by the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points, giving Kyle Busch the pole position. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will start on the outside of the first row.

Carl Edwards and two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will make up the second row.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Jeff Burton (fifth), Jeff Gordon (sixth), Tony Stewart (ninth), Kevin Harvick (11th), Clint Bowyer (12th), Matt Kenseth (13th) and David Ragan (14th).

Without the opportunity to make a qualifying attempt, Boris Said and Brian Simo will miss Sunday's race.

Five races remain until the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" begins September 14th at New Hampshire, and the spotlight shines ever-brighter on the 12th-place cut-off. Only 97 points separate ninth-place Stewart from 14th-place Ragan.

Kenseth fell out of the top-12 after an 11th-place finish Sunday at Pocono. Kenseth is now 11 markers behind 12th-place Bowyer. He was eighth in points after the July 12th race at Chicagoland, but has fallen five positions since then. Kenseth and Johnson are the only drivers to compete in the "Chase" every year since the championship program began in 2004.

Even though he was involved in a crash in the opening laps at Pocono, Harvick rallied for a fourth-place finish, and as a result, moved up two spots in the standings. Harvick sits in the 11th spot, eight markers ahead of his Richard Childress Racing teammate Bowyer.

Harvick has an impressive record at The Glen, recording one victory (2006) and four top-10 finishes in seven races. Harvick, unfortunately, finished 36th in last year's race after being involved in an incident with Juan Pablo Montoya. Martin Truex, Jr. got into the back of Montoya, sending him into the turn too fast as he hit Harvick. The two got out of their cars and started pushing and yelling at each other.

Stewart is the defending race winner. Stewart watched as Gordon slid off the track with two laps to go last year. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver held off his teammate Denny Hamlin at the finish line by 2.460 seconds for his third victory of the season and his 32nd career victory in the series. Gordon, the points leader at the time, ended up finishing ninth.

Meanwhile, Sunday's weather forecast at Watkins Glen calls for scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. NASCAR has brought 600 rain tires on reserve.

The sanctioning body used rain tires for the first points-paying race last week in the Nationwide event at Montreal.

The green flag is scheduled to drop around 2 p.m. (et).

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.