NASCAR betting fans: We’re back with another fantastic race this weekend at infamous Poconos Raceway, as 43 of the best drivers in the world look to make for great 5-Hour Energy 500 picks!

2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Odds, Picks & Info
2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Date: Sunday, June 12th, 2011
2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Green Flag Time: 1:18 ET
2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Location: Poconos Speedway, Long Pond, PA
2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Favorite: Denny Hamlin (+450)
Defending 5-Hour Energy 500 Champion: Denny Hamlin
2011 5-Hour Energy 500 TV Coverage – Network: TNT

Normally, when it looks like a fish and it smells like a fish, it’s probably pretty darn fishy. On one glance, it doesn’t seem like there is any way in which Denny Hamlin (Current 5-Hour Energy 500 Odds: 4.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) should be the favorite of this race. After all, he ranks just No. 11 in the Sprint Cup standings coming into this week, and he only has two Top 5 finishes all season long. However, we need to dig a little bit deeper. The “Tricky Triangle” always provides us with some great moments in NASCAR betting action, as there are generally very few cautions and the racing is wide open. For whatever reason, Hamlin has really excelled in this type of race. He won this race last year, and he has four wins in his 10 races here in the Poconos… not to mention seven Top 5s and nine Top 10s. Needless to say, it would be quite shocking if Hamlin didn’t end up at least competing for the duration of this race.

Many expert NASCAR handicappers are forecasting a good day for Tony Stewart (5-Hour Energy 500 Lines: 9.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) as well. Stewart only has one Top 5 finish this year as well (not including the Sprint Cup All Star Race), but he too, has a great history here on the “Tricky Triangle.” Stewart has a win here in 2009, and it was his first as a driver/owner. Dating back to his days in the No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac, Stewart has finished in the Top 10 nine times in his last 10 races. Needless to say, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in this one.

Carl Edwards (Odds to Win the 5-Hour Energy 500: 6.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) is always a threat to win these types of races, as the fewer cautions and fewer accidents there are in the race, the more dangerous that the No. 99 Ford is. Of course we know that the man that is just behind him in the points race, Jimmie Johnson (Current 5-Hour Energy 500 Odds: 7.50 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook) will be a threat as well, and both of these drivers are, as always, ones that you are going to want to keep an eye on.

5-Hour Energy 500 Odds @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 6/9/11):
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Denny Hamlin 4.50 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 6.50 to 1
Carl Edwards 7.50 to 1
Kyle Busch 9.50 to 1
Tony Stewart 9.50 to 1
Kevin Harvick 11.50 to 1
Matt Kenseth 12.50 to 1
Jeff Gordon 13.50 to 1
Greg Biffle 14.75 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 14.75 to 1
Kurt Busch 25 to 1
Clint Bowyer 28 to 1
Jeff Burton 33 to 1
Kasey Kahne 33 to 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 40 to 1
Joey Logano 42 to 1
Mark Martin 42 to 1
Ryan Newman 42 to 1
Brian Vickers 42 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 42 to 1
Jamie McMurray 42 to 1
David Reutimann 55 to 1

2011 5-Hour Energy 500 Odds @ Oddsmaker Sportsbook (as of 6/9/11):
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Denny Hamlin 4 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 5 to 1
Carl Edwards 7 to 1
Kyle Busch 10 to 1
Tony Stewart 10 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 12 to 1
Jeff Gordon 12 to 1
Kevin Harvick 12 to 1
Matt Kenseth 15 to 1
Greg Biffle 15 to 1
Clint Bowyer 25 to 1
Kurt Busch 25 to 1
Kasey Kahne 30 to 1
Brian Vickers 40 to 1
Ryan Newman 40 to 1
Jamie McMurray 40 to 1
Jeff Burton 40 to 1
Joey Logano 40 to 1
Mark Martin 40 to 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 40 to 1
David Ragan 40 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 40 to 1
Brad Keselowski 50 to 1
Marcus Ambrose 50 to 1
David Reutimann 50 to 1
AJ Allmendinger 60 to 1
Paul Menard 75 to 1
Regan Smith 100 to 1
Bobby Labonte 500 to 1
Field (Any Other Driver) 200 to 1

If You Are Looking For More Information & Details on the NFL Supplemental Draft (Such As How Does The Supplemental Draft Work & When it Takes Place, Scroll To The Bottom of This Post For More Info

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been through quite a bit in this offseason. Before their bowl game, word broke that they were losing some of their star players to a five game suspension for this upcoming NCAA football betting season thanks to their connection with selling autographs and memorabilia while under scholarship at the university. Later on, it was determined that Head Coach Jim Tressel knew of these violations, and he was suspended by the university as well.

However, after a long offseason filled with tons of questions such as, “Why is Terrelle Pryor driving around in this luxury sports car?” Tressel resigned two weeks ago and stepped away from the university. The next shoe, likely not the last, came in the form of Pryor leaving the university after three years in Columbus.

The career for Pryor was always a high profile one. He was the top rated recruit in the country four years ago, and he was drawing the same type of attention that Tim Tebow did when he was with the Florida Gators. Instead of picking the Michigan Wolverines or the Oregon Ducks, Pryor decided to become a Buckeye and to play under the more pro-style system that Tressel had in place in Columbus.

Pryor won games — make no mistake about that. No, he never did win the Heisman Trophy, and no, he never went on to lead Ohio State to a National Championship, but he was a proven winner, and he has the skills to be a deadly quarterback professionally.

The question is where he’ll end up going. Pryor has a slew of options right now at his disposal, but none of them are remarkable. One of his options would be to go to the Canadian Football League, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders have claimed his negotiating rights. However, CFL training camps have already started, and the season starts in just three weeks. Pryor would also be battling with a proven quarterback in Darian Durant, who has the promise to take the Riders to the Grey Cup title after coming up just short in back to back seasons. Aside from that, the rules and quirks of the CFL take time to adjust to, and Pryor has had no experience whatsoever with anything anywhere near these rules in his football playing career.

The UFL is also a possibility. This is a league that has already drafted though, and all of the teams know who their quarterbacks are going to be. The pro to that is that Pryor would get to work on his NFL game, as the rules in this league are awfully similar to those of the NFL.

However, the most likely choice for Pryor at this point is to join the NFL’s Supplemental Draft, which typically is held right around this time each year.

Of course, the problem with doing any business right now with the NFL is that there are no operations going on at this point for the teams. There is no date set for a Supplemental Draft, and players that end up getting drafted from this day don’t typically end up ever making a roster.

How Does The NFL Supplemental Draft Work?

If you are wondering; What is the NFL Supplemental Draft?…and are curious as to how it works, here’s a brief crash course on how the NFL Supplemental Draft has worked in years past…

Players that did not file to be in the main NFL Draft can try to enter into the NFL Supplemental Draft the year in which they leave college. The reasons that players typically join the Supplemental Draft is because they had eligibility issues in college. Last year, Harvey Unga was the only player that was picked in the Supplemental Draft, and the only reason in which he joined was because the BYU Cougars kicked him out of school after the NFL Draft was already completed.  Normally, there are no big name players like Terrelle Pryor in the Supplemental Draft.

There are typically only a handful of players that are eligible to be drafted in the Supplemental Draft. This year, Janoris Jenkins of the Florida Gators is also likely going to be on the board for the Supplemental Draft, and both he and Pryor are likely to be picked at some point.

Teams are lined up in draft order as they were in the NFL Draft, and there are seven full rounds. You don’t have to make a selection. The mass majority of picks are passed. If you take a player when it’s your turn to draft, you lose that corresponding draft pick next year. In other words, if a player were to be taken in the fourth round of the Supplemental Draft, the team that drafted him would forfeit their fourth round draft pick in the next year’s draft.

There is no way that anyone would spend earlier than a third round pick on Pryor in all likelihood. Even if the Supplemental Draft does take place in the near future and the NFL season is played as scheduled, Pryor holds virtually no chance whatsoever at being able to get on the field. Not only does he clearly have some character issues and off the field problems, but he would have not picked up a football in over nine months. He’d have to adjust to the speed of the game and would need to get in line with his receivers.

It almost seems like the best case scenario for Pryor would be to take the entire year off, work with some trainers, and to get ready for the 2012 NFL Draft, where he can go through a regular combine and workout and be compared to the rest of the players that will be in his draft class.