Franchitti quickest in Indy Carb Day

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05/28/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti topped the speed charts in Friday's Carb Day -- the final practice session for the Indianapolis 500.

Helio Castroneves, the pole sitter, led the way early in the one-hour session before Franchitti turned a lap of 225.574 m.p.h. Franchitti will start third in this year's Indy 500, the same position he started from when he won this race in 2007.

Castroneves, who finished fifth in practice, has an opportunity to make history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If the Team Penske driver wins on Sunday, not only would it be his record-tying fourth Indy 500 victory, but he would become the first driver to win back-to-back 500s twice as well.

He would join A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser as the race's only four-time winners.

"As far as I'm concerned, Helio can wait until I retire to join that elite group," Franchitti jokingly said. "We just don't want to beat one car and one team. We want to beat everybody, but in order to win this thing, we're going to have to go past the Penske team at some point."

Franchitti's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon was second quickest in practice with a lap of 225.159 m.p.h. Dixon was followed by current points leader Will Power, who was the quickest among the three Penske teams.

Dixon and Franchitti combined for 123 laps led in last year's Indy 500, but pit road mishaps for each one of the Ganassi drivers cost them an opportunity to win. Castroneves took the lead from Dixon with 59 laps remaining and held it for his third Indy 500 victory.

"Last year, both Target cars, in my opinion, were the class of the field," Franchitti said. "We did have those bad pit stops with Scott and myself, and that just goes to show you, it's a team sport. It takes every single member of the crew of any of the teams out there to have a perfect day, to have a chance at winning this thing. It's very unusual for Team Target to make a mistake like that, but it didn't take us out of contention. We would like to remind them this Sunday and try to finish the job."

Bruno Junqueira from FAZZT Race Team looked impressive in practice with the fourth fastest lap.

E.J. Viso, Dan Wheldon, Mario Moraes, Raphael Matos and Alex Tagliani completed the top-10.

Danica Patrick continued to struggle at Indianapolis with a 21st-place finish in practice. Last Saturday, Patrick endured her worst Indy 500 qualifying performance with a 23rd starting position. She had qualified no worse than 10th in her first five Indy 500 starts.

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Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.