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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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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