NASCAR legends were out in full force over the weekend as the first five members of the newly created NASCAR Hall of Fame were inducted.  These inaugural members are considered to be pioneers and visionaries of the sport and they include:

Dale Earnhardt
There is no doubt he’s one of the most famous car drivers of all time that has influenced the world of racing in more than one way.  Besides being a pioneer, he is tied for most of all-time Cup championships with seven.  He had 76 career Cup wins, one Daytona 500, is the all-time leader in race victories at Daytona International Speedway, and has three runner-up finishes in Cup championships.

Bill France
Who more appropriate to be one of the five first members of the Hall of Fame than the sport’s creator?  Bill France founded NASCAR in 1947 and served as the president from 1948-72.  He also helped lay the first beach/road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, which is now considered by many to be the home of NASCAR racing.

Bill France Jr
He succeeded his father as president of NASCAR and served from 1972-2000.  He is credited with making NASCAR a national sport as he managed to work out an agreement to televise the Daytona 500 for the first time in 1979.  This resulted in nationwide attention for the sport and an eventual $2.4 billion television contract with three major media networks.

Junior Johnson
He is a driver that changed the racing world forever when he discovered drafting at superspeedways.  Not to mention the fact that he has 50 career Cup wins, 46 career poles, and was the second driver to win at the Daytona 500 in 1960.  As an owner, he won six Cup championships and had 139 wins with drivers Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip.

Richard Petty
There isn’t a driver out there that’s more successful than Richard Petty.  He holds a slew of records, and continues to be a major personality in NASCAR.  He’s a seven time Cup champion.  He has the most Cup wins of all time with 200.  He has the most of all time Cup poles with 123.  He holds the most wins in a single season when he took 27 wins in 1967.  He holds the record for most career starts of all time with 1,027.  Petty holds the record for most consecutive wins when he grabbed 10 in a row in 1967.  Finally, he holds the record for most Daytona 500 wins of all time, as he is a seven-time champion.

Congrats to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  Be sure to catch up with some of the current drivers (and possible future hall of famers) in the Sprint Cup Championships on Sunday, May 30.  Sportsbook.com is offering the following top five odds on the upcoming event:

Denny Hamlin: +500
Jeff Gordon: +500
Jimmie Johnson: +250
Kyle Busch: +350
Kevin Harvick: +1200

They have odds on plenty of other drivers for this event, so be sure to get to Sportsbook.com to check it out and put down a wager on your favorite to win the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship.

There is a bit of talk at the moment over Australian Zeljko Ranogajec and the extent of his gambling operations. With bookmakers all over the world reporting substantial amounts of wagers from Ranogajec, including up to 6 to 8 per cent of Tabcorp’s annual betting turnover, it has been estimated that Ranogajec may be betting more than $1 billion per year.

Now, we can’t be sure just how much he bets on a yearly basis, as he obviously keeps things secretive so that his bets don’t lose value with other punters following his lead. Regardless of the exact amount, it’s certainly substantially more than anyone else wagers, and Ranogajec’s protestations that he really doesn’t wager all that much can’t be taken too seriously.

The amount he bets isn’t the most interesting thing about his operation, though. What I find really intriguing is the way he goes about making a fortune from gambling. First of all, he has a massive staff that analyzes gambling opportunities from all over the world in order to find odds that are inconsistent with the probability of winning. Finding betting odds that are favorable to the bettor is standard for a successful gambler, but Ranogajec’s team are also able to place bets as late as possible thanks to direct connections to betting pools. This stops other gamblers from following their picks, so that the odds aren’t disastrously shortened before betting has closed. Despite the huge amounts that Ranogajec bets, his profit margins are apparently only single digits – which still means he’s making millions of dollars, thanks to the size of his bankroll and the bets being made!

You don’t need to have billions of dollars in capital and a team of analysts to turn a profit on sports betting, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Successful betting is a lot of work, and it requires incredible self-control. You have to manage your bankroll very strictly and need be an expert on the bookmaker’s craft. If you want to become a better punter, then it is worthwhile checking out a betting exchange where you can set your own odds, or take the odds set by other users. It’s a really interesting system that can greatly reward players who take the time to research betting markets, so give it a try if you are thinking of going professional with your sports or horse racing betting.

Everyone’s favorite racecar driver is back in the news, generating buzz over her rumored move to NASCAR.  She sparked these rumors some time ago by informally meeting with several teams after her Indy contract with Andretti Green Racing expired.

Now the rumor mill is in overdrive as a two-year deal with Dale Earnheardt Jr’s JR Motorsports team is likely in the works.  Though ESPN reported that the two were close to an agreement, Earnheardt is saying that there are still plenty of other teams interested in her driving skills.  He also asserts that her presence would be a plus, saying, “She will be good for NASCAR, whoever gets her.”

If a deal is reached, Patrick will be racing for both Indy and NASCAR as she has already signed a three-year contract extension with AGR.  The official announcement is expected to come in December.  Though there has been no confirmation, many are suspecting that she will drive her IRL IndyCar full time and drive a Nationwide car when IRL isn’t racing.

She is the only woman to win an IndyCar race, and her appeal is a sponsor’s dream.  All racing fans will be waiting with baited breath for a conclusion to this story.  In the meantime, have a little fun at BetUS as they are offering some sporting specials on Danica Patrick’s career in 2010.  These include:

Will Patrick win a Nationwide Race?
Yes in 2010: +160
No, not in 2010: -220

Will Patrick’s best finish come in
Nationwide Series: +200
IndyCar Series: -160

Patrick joins NASCAR Sprint Series in 2010
Yes: +250
No: -400

There are a few others on offer, so get to BetUS to make your bets on Danica Patrick’s NASCAR future.