Busch, Gibbs address sponsorship change

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/11/2011 - Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR driver Kyle Busch continued to be apologetic for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in last week's Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Since NASCAR suspended him from last weekend's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races at Texas, Busch spoke with reporters for the first time on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. The sanctioning body took further action on Monday by fining Busch $50,000 and placing him on probation for the remainder of the year.

Mars Inc. and its M&M's brand, which serves as the primary sponsor of Busch's No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team, announced this week that it would not sponsor Busch's efforts in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix as well as the November 20 season-finale at Homestead, FL.

"As a proud member of the racing community, Mars and the M&M's brand strongly support the partnership we have with Joe Gibbs Racing and are committed to NASCAR. Yet, Kyle's recent actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of Mars," Debra A. Sandler, who is the chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America, said in a statement released on Thursday. "While we do not condone Kyle's recent actions, we do believe that he has shown remorse and has expressed a desire to change. We believe our decision will have a positive impact on Kyle and will help him return next season ready to win."

JGR announced that its longtime sponsor, Interstate Batteries, will be featured on the No.18 car at Phoenix and Homestead. Mars will continue its sponsorship with Busch's team during the 2012 season.

After being parked at Texas, Busch dropped from seventh to 11th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship point standings. He has been mathematically eliminated from title contention, as he presently trails leader Carl Edwards by 100 points.

"Obviously, this has been quite a trying week for myself and my wife [Samantha] and everybody at M&M's, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports and Interstate Batteries, all of the above," Busch said. "I'm upmost apologetic to everybody that's been having to go through this situation, and there's no one to blame but myself."

Busch said he had a telephone conversation with Hornaday days after the truck race. He quipped that he "is still invited to [Hornaday's] house."

Team owner Joe Gibbs joined Busch during the press conference, which was held prior to the first Sprint Cup practice held on the newly repaved and reconfigured one-mile Phoenix track.

"Joe has been a huge supporter of mine through all of this, and I can't say enough about him, all the folks at JGR and all the guys on my M&M's team, and we're here to say that we want to learn from this and we'll move on," Busch added.

Gibbs noted that Busch is facing penalties from JGR, including a fine. He would not comment on the details of the forthcoming penalties. Busch will not be relieved from his driving duties with the team after this season concludes.

"Kyle's penalties are going to be substantial," Gibbs said. "We also have other actions that are going to be in place. There will be other financial penalties and stuff that we're working through, and we'll continue to do that as we go forward through this process."

Busch is not competing in Saturday's Nationwide race at Phoenix. Joey Logano was originally scheduled to drive JGR's No.18 car for that event. Busch will not run in the Nationwide season-ending race at Homestead as well.

There had been speculation that Z-Line Designs, the primary sponsor of Busch's Nationwide team, asked JGR to replace Busch with Denny Hamlin in the Homestead race.

"I take the responsibility for a lot of that, because we were kind of wanting to go for the next two races to let Kyle focus on Cup, and so a lot of that came from the race team," Gibbs said.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.