Logano, Harvick have at it at Pocono

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The next chapter in NASCAR's "boys, have at it" story of the season was written on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, with Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick re-igniting their feud.

While Logano's teammate, Denny Hamlin, drove into victory lane at Pocono for the fourth time in his career, Logano and Harvick faced off on pit road after the two tangled in the closing laps.

Harvick bumped Logano and put him into a spin while the two were battling for the fifth position with less than two laps remaining. The incident set up a green-white-checkered finish. Logano charged through the field during the two- lap overtime finish to salvage a 13th-place finish.

After Logano's pit crew tried to simmer down their 20-year-old driver during his cool-down lap, Logano parked his car right next to Harvick's ride and then proceeded to have a shouting match with the current Sprint Cup Series points leader.

Harvick's crew members blocked Logano from getting face to face with their driver, as NASCAR officials intervened to prevent a post-race brawl. Logano's father, Tom, also partook in the confrontation.

A generally calm and easy-going Logano expressed his ire towards Harvick during an interview with television network TNT.

"I don't know what his problem is with me, but it's probably not his fault; his wife wears the fire suit in the family and tells him what to do," Logano said.

Harvick finished fourth and left Pocono with a 19-point advantage over Kyle Busch, who also is Logano's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

"I got into him there going into [turn] three, and he just races with not giving people any respect and not much room," Harvick said. "So we just wound up getting together. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it goes."

It's not the first time Logano and Harvick have butted heads. In March, Harvick bumped Logano on the final lap of the Nationwide Series race at Bristol. Logano, who ended up finishing 14th, tried to confront Harvick on pit road, but his JGR crew kept him distant from Harvick.

It's obvious that Logano and Harvick are not the best of friends these days.

I don't know what I ever did to [tick] him off, but he is apparently stupid," Logano added.

Following his argument with Harvick at Pocono, NASCAR officials summoned Logano and his father to the sanctioning body's hauler for a post-race chat.

"I think we probably missed the fire that's inside of Joey," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "You're talking about somebody we signed when he was 15, and we kind of watched him race at different places. I think he does have a real fire. Now, he controls himself. He's somebody that rarely gets out of control. But I definitely think he's got a real passion for what he does. It means a lot to him."

Tom Logano has been in trouble with NASCAR in the past. Logano had his NASCAR annual credential (hard card) taken away after his involvement in a post-race skirmish between Joey Logano and Greg Biffle in a Nationwide event last October in Fontana, CA.

Maybe it's time for daddy Logano to start letting his son - now out of his teens - handle his own problems. Makes you wonder who's wearing the younger Logano's fire suit, doesn't it?

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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."

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