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01/29/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Shank Racing pulled off a stunning win in Sunday's Rolex 24 at Daytona, with NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel of the team's No.60 Ford-Riley during the final stint.
Allmendinger shared driving duties with Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series regulars Ozz Negri and John Pew, as well as IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson in the 50th anniversary of the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. The 30-year-old Allmendinger crossed the finish line 5.2 seconds ahead of Starworks Motorsports' No.8 Ford-Riley, which was driven by Ryan Dalziel during the last hours of the event.
With a little more than one hour to go, Allmendinger put the No.60 car in the lead for good. However, Allmendinger had to swerve wide in turn one to avoid hitting a GT car during the closing laps. He went at least 20 feet off surface onto the paved skid pad.
"I'm so worn out," Allmendinger said in Daytona's victory lane. "We wanted to win this for Shank. The motor was so fast. I am so drained.
"I knew those last three hours I was going to have to go flat out. It was fun. When Dalziel got in the car...I knew I was going to have to drive my (rear end) off. I pushed really hard to build up a gap and take those last 10 laps to manage that gap."
It's the first time in nine attempts that team owner Michael Shank has claimed the victory in one of the world's most prestigious sports car races. The No.60 team completed 761 laps around the 3.560-mile Daytona road course for a total of 2,709 miles. It was one lap shy of tying the event's all time record, set in 1962.
"I feel like we deserved [a win], to be honest, because we've worked hard, and I don't make any excuses for that, and we've paid our dues for sure," Shank said. "I hope it can take us to new, cool places in Daytona Prototype in the coming years."
Last month, Allmendinger signed with Penske Racing to drive the No.22 car in NASCAR's premier series this season. He drove for Richard Petty's team the past three years. Allmendinger has yet to win a race in any one of NASCAR's three national touring series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck).
"I look at this year as being my best opportunity to win a Cup race, but that's easier said than done," he said. "Right now, I'm just going to take this for what it's worth and not think about anything for a couple of days and enjoy it. Right now, it's the biggest win I've ever had, because we've worked for seven years to get to this point with Mike Shank, and we've been so close so many times."
Wilson competed for the first time since last August when he suffered a back injury during a practice crash at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which curtailed his 2011 IndyCar season.
"We all managed to comprise enough to get by between all four of us in being comfortable and being able to push the limit every single lap, because this was a tough race," Wilson said.
Dalziel partnered with Allan McNish, Alex Popow, Enzo Potolicchio and Lucas Luhr in the No.8 car.
Brazilian Felipe Nasr finished third in a second Shank car, the No.6 Ford- Riley.
NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished fourth overall -- one lap down -- in the No.02 Chip Ganassi Racing BMW-Riley. It's the first time since 2005 that a Ganassi car was not on the podium for the 24-hour Daytona race. Montoya teamed up with fellow Sprint Cup driver Jamie McMurray and IndyCar champions Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.
"It was a great race - an epic 50th Rolex 24," Ganassi said. "My congratulations to Mike Shank and Ford for a fantastic race, but I don't want them to get too comfortable in victory circle."
Defending race and Grand Am champion Scott Pruett finished sixth in Ganassi's No.01 BMW-Riley. A transmission problem that occurred late in the race put Pruett four laps behind.
The GT class victory went to Andy Lally, John Potter, Richard Lietz and Rene Rast in the No.44 Magnus Racing Porsche. The team finished 11th overall in the race.
Lally has returned to Grand Am after capturing the rookie-of-the-year title in Sprint Cup last year.
"I absolutely knew we had the potential to do it," Lally said. "It was a pleasure to be able to join the team. It was absolutely epic to come home."
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In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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