Kanaan makes late race pass for IndyCar win

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08/12/2007 - Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Kanaan was strong all day, but still needed to make a late race pass of A.J. Foyt IV to capture Saturday night's Meijer Indy 300 IndyCar race at the Kentucky Speedway. The No.11 Andretti Green Racing driver crossed the finish line 1.7457 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon.

The victory was Kanaan's fourth of the season and 11th of his IndyCar career.

" I didn't tell anybody, but it was my Dad's birthday on Friday, so this was for you Dad," said Kanaan.

Kanaan brought the field to the green flag with series points leader Dario Franchitti right beside him. The two front-row qualifiers immediately put some distance between themselves and third place. The gap to Dixon was half-a- second after just five laps.

But the fastest cars on the track were Sam Hornish Jr. and Dan Wheldon who moved into fourth and fifth, respectively. They caught Dixon on lap 25 and passed him on the following lap.

Then on lap 36, Hornish Jr. and Wheldon got together down the back straight and both drivers were out of the race. What had happened was Hornish Jr. had been trying to pass Franchitti for second, got loose spinning up the track and collected Wheldon who was just an innocent bystander and had no place to go.

Everyone took the opportunity to pit and Franchitti's AGR crew was just a bit quicker than Kanaan's AGR crew to grab the race lead. On the drop of the green flag the top four cars, which included Franchitti, Kanaan, Tomas Scheckter and Dixon, put two seconds between themselves and fifth-place Scott Sharp. By lap 80 the gap for the front runners was more than four and-a-half seconds.

A second round of pit stops began on lap 90 and after they cycled through it was Kanaan leading Dixon and Franchitti. They were still that way at the mid- point of the 200-lap event. The trio was three seconds ahead of Scheckter, in fourth.

On lap 108 Franchitti got around the outside of Dixon for second place and tucked in behind Kanaan. The three were putting up fast laps and pulled away by more than four seconds.

A debris caution flag on lap 125 in turn three slowed the field and closed the gap between the leaders and the pack. The yellow flag also set up a round of pit stops and Dixon beat out both Kanaan and Franchitti.

The restart with 70 laps to go meant there would be one more pit stop before the checkered flag.

Dixon didn't hold the lead for long as Kanaan caught him on the first green- flag lap. But Franchitti was having a much harder time getting around the Target Chip Ganassi racer. He could get side-by-side, even edging a little ahead, but not enough to make the pass.

Kanaan built his lead to almost three seconds with 40 laps remaining as Dixon and Franchitti continued to battle side-by-side for second place. The fight allowed Scheckter to join them, though there was no place for him to try and get around them.

On lap 164 Franchitti slid all the way to the top of the track, had to get off the gas pedal and by the time he could get going again found himself in eighth place.

Final pit stops began under green flag conditions. Scheckter was the first of the leaders to pit. Then Kanaan as they waited as long as they could for a caution flag. Franchitti, Danica Patrick and Dixon came in together and Franchitti came in a little hot. He slammed the outside pit road marker and his crew was forced to replace the front nose wing slowing his stop.

When the race restarted, A.J. Foyt IV was leading with Kanaan and Dixon just behind.

Then Patrick spun, while still under caution, and it ended here day. Something exploded on her car and she just missed hitting a safety vehicle.

On the restart, Kanaan made quick work of Foyt IV and so did Dixon. Kanaan had more than one second on Dixon and unless the No.11 AGR driver made an error the race was his. Kanaan was perfect and he won his fourth race of the season.

After Franchitti crossed the finish line, he ran into the back of Kosuke Matsuura who was already slowing down and once again went airborne hitting the outside wall. Fortunately, no one was injured as Franchitti got another ride in an ambulance.

"That was a scary moment after the race but thank God he's ok," said Kanaan of the post-race incident.

With his second place finish, Dixon moves to just eight points behind Franchitti. Kanaan, after two consecutive wins, is 52 points behind the leader.

The next IndyCar race is scheduled for Sunday, August 26th at the Infineon Raceway.

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Football Betting: Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards

Oddsmakers have released the odds for the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Seattle Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry has been made the opening favorite.

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Seattle took Curry with the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft and plan on inserting him into its starting lineup right away. The Hawks traded linebacker Julian Peterson in the offseason, so Curry is expected to have a significant role in Seattle's defense next year and that's one of the primary reasons he is the favorite to win the NFL ROY Award.

Oddsmakers from online sportsbook MySportsbook.com have made Curry a 5/1 favorite to win this year's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Given that he was the best defensive prospect in this year's draft and how he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays in '09, Curry offers a ton of value at 5/1.

Another thing working for Curry is the position he plays. A linebacker has won the defensive ROY award six straight times and eight of the last nine years. Jerod Mayo, Patrick Willis, DeMeco Ryans, Shawne Merriman, Jonathan Vilma, Terrell Suggs, Kendrell Bell and Brian Urlacher were the most recent linebackers to take home the award.

Following Curry at 5/1 are Tyson Jackson (Chiefs) at 7/1, James Laurinaitas (Rams) at 8/1, Brian Orakpo (Redskins) at 10/1, Rey Maualuga (Bengals) at 10/1 and Jerry Peria (Falcons) at 10/1.

All the players mentioned above are expected to start for their respective teams, but Jackson and Peria are going to have a tough time being recognized on a national level given they're both defensive linemen. D-linemen rarely put up the numbers that it takes to win an individual award like the ROY.

A couple of players with some value are Clay Matthews (Packers) at 12/1 and Larry English (Chargers) at 15/1. Matthews is expected to start at outside linebacker in Green Bay's new 3-4 defense and could rack up a ton of tackles. English, who was an impressive player at Northern Illinois, is expected to be a situational pass rusher for the Chargers and could rack up a ton of sacks.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, see below. And for complete odds for the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, click the link provided.

2009 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award

Robert Ayers (DEN) 12/1

Ron Brace (NE) 25/1

Everette Brown (CAR) 16/1

Darius Butler (NE) 40/1

Patrick Chung (NE) 30/1

Aaron Curry (SEA) 5/1

Brian Cushing (HOU) 12/1

Vontae Davis (MIA) 30/1

Louis Delmas (DET) 30/1

Larry English (SD) 15/1

Evander Hood (PIT) 25/1

Tyson Jackson (KC) 7/1

Malcolm Jenkins (NO) 25/1

Paul Kruger (BAL) 50/1

James Laurinaitas (STL) 8/1

Sen'Derrick Marks (TEN) 20/1

Clay Matthews (GB) 12/1

Aaron Maybin (BUF) 15/1

Rey Maualuga (CIN) 10/1

Roy Miller (TB) 20/1

Michael Mitchell (OAK) 45/1

Fili Moala (IND) 30/1

Brian Orakpo (WAS) 10/1

Jerry Peria (ATL) 10/1

B J Raji (GB) 7/1

Clint Sintim (NYG) 35/1

Alphonso Smith (DEN) 40/1

David Verkune (CLE) 20/1

Jason Williams (DAL) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 6/1

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