Vickers expects to be back for 2011 Sprint Cup season

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR driver Brian Vickers said he expects to return to racing next season, but revealed he underwent open heart surgery on July 12 to repair a hole in his heart, as part of his treatment for blood clots.

Vickers spoke with the media on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway on the status of medical condition. The Sprint Cup Series is running a 500-lap race here tonight.

In May, Vickers was diagnosed and treated for blood clots in his left leg and both lungs at a Washington, D.C. hospital. Doctors later discovered he had a blood clot in one of the fingers on his left hand. The 26-year-old announced later that month he would miss the remainder of the 2010 season, while he underwent treatment until the end of the year.

Vickers also said he was diagnosed with May-Thurner Syndrome (MTS), which causes compression of blood vessels in the legs and increases the risk of deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities. Vickers continues to be treated with the anticoagulant (blood thinner) medication Coumadin and stroke-prevention drug Plavix.

One day after his open heart surgery, Vickers underwent another operation to have a stent placed in a vein in his left leg.

"I had heart surgery, and I never thought I would never have that at 26," Vickers said. "I've had a stent put in, and I never thought I would have one of those. But they both went extremely well. I am on Coumadin and Plavix still, and I will be for the rest of the year, so I'm still out of the car.

"They gave me full clearance for next year. I will be back next season, and I will be racing in January. I'm really excited about that."

Vickers has spent recent time getting himself in better physical condition. He said a few weeks after the surgery, he went biking in the mountains of Colorado.

"This has given me an opportunity to step back and really take a look inwards, and look at what's going around me, but a look inside and figure out what I really want," he said. "Sometimes you don't know how much you really love something until you don't have it, and I can tell you, I really love driving race cars, now that I don't have it.

"I think that my edge is going to be increased, and my drive and determination is only going to increase when I come back next year."

Vickers said he expects to be back in the No.83 Toyota for Red Bull Racing in 2011. However, Kasey Kahne will join RBR next season before he heads to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. RBR team manager Jay Frye said Kahne will drive of the team's two cars next year. The team might add a third car to its stable. Scott Speed drives the No.82 Toyota.

"As far as Kasey, I'm excited to work with him," Vickers said. "As far as how that all goes down, honestly, I read about it online. I didn't even know about it. Jay told me something was going to happen, but he didn't tell me what."

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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