What New Year's Day is to college football fans, this Sunday is to people who love auto racing. From Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix, to the Indianapolis 500, to NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600, there is plenty of high-quality action from morning to night. Of the three races, only the Grand Prix is not bettable in local sports books.
INDY 500
Rain showed up at every practice, and the first weekend of qualifying was washed out, but now the field is set for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500.
It's interesting to see that Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti and Eddie Cheever are giving the old race another try. With a Foyt, Luyendyk and another Andretti in the field, it reminds one of the good ol' days when many people truly cared who won at Indy. Maybe someone will add some magic to the race. Still, the Indy 500 will always be exciting to true lovers of auto racing, as it is the sport's most prestigious single-day prize.
As far as predicting the winner of the race goes, certainly that involves a ton of luck. Cars will break down, drivers will crash and crews will have poor pit stops.
But the guess here is that the victor will be two-time winner Helio Castroneves. The Indy 500 is all about his team owner Roger Penske, who holds a record 13 wins.
Many people, of course, will be rooting for the one lady in the race, Danica Patrick. As a rookie last year she finished fourth and became the first woman ever to lead laps at the Brickyard. Last season was an eventful one for her as, among other things, she won over $1 million, earned the IRL award for Rookie of the Year, got married and slapped another driver.
NASCAR
Also on Sunday is the running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Every Nextel Cup race has wagering available.
The winner as always at Lowe's should be Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has won three straight 600's, five out of six races at the track, and last week's All-Star Challenge. Lowe's is his main sponsor.
TENNIS
Sunday also marks the beginning of tennis' second major, the French Open, at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. Patience and stamina are the keys to winning the French where players must survive long baseline rallies on the slow, red clay. The strongest contenders have prepared mentally and physically for tennis' most grueling tournament by achieving success during the current European clay court season.
The men's side will undoubtedly come down to a dream final rematch between world No. 1 Roger Federer and defending champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal has won 53 straight matches on clay, and outlasted Federer in a 5-hour marathon in Rome two weekends ago.
The women's side is much more wide open, but the most consistent clay court players this season against the strongest competition have been Nadia Petrova and defending champ Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Winners - Nadal and Henin-Hardenne.
NHL
As of Wednesday evening in the National Hockey League, No. 8 seed Edmonton was in the driver's seat, one game away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. In the East an excellent battle is forming, with a record-tying 8 straight Buffalo games being decided by a one-goal difference. The pick here was for Carolina to beat Edmonton in the Finals, but all three teams deserve to win the Cup.
NBA
In NBA Conference Finals, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win 29 of 32 series, or 90 percent. That bodes very well for Game 1 upset road victors Miami and Phoenix, but the pick here is for Dallas to break that trend. Dallas beats Miami in the Finals.