Page 21 - ARUBA TODAY

SPORTS A21
Report: 18 states
may introduce sports
betting bills in 2018
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)
— A new report predicts
18 states will introduce bills New York; New Jersey;
to regulate sports betting
this year, with 11 having a
good chance of passing
legislation.
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming,
which tracks gambling leg-
islation nationwide, says
that’s just the minimum;
the firm predicts more than
30 states could introduce
sports betting bills.
The U.S. Supreme Court this
year will decide a case
brought by New Jersey
that seeks to overturn a
ban on sports betting in all
but four states: Delaware,
Montana, Nevada and Or-
egon. A favorable ruling
in that case could open
the floodgates in terms
of states adopting a new
form of gambling.
“Assuming a Supreme
Court decision or action
by Congress permits it, we
could see the largest si-
multaneous expansion of
regulated gambling in U.S.
history with sports betting
in 2018,” said Chris Grove,
the company’s managing
director.
The court is expected by
June to decide New Jer-
sey’s case, which seeks to
overturn a ban on sports
betting by any state that
did not meet a 1991 dead-
line to legalize it. States
and private companies in
the U.S. and abroad are
already moving quickly to
position themselves for a
favorable ruling. States list-
ed as likely to introduce a
sports betting bill are: Mas-
sachusetts; Rhode Island;
West Virginia; South Caroli-
na; Georgia; Florida; Illinois; 1st NASCAR Cup laps at Texas
Michigan; Iowa; Minne-
sota; Louisiana; Mississippi;
Oklahoma and California.
Indiana and Kentucky al-
ready have introduced
bills. Pennsylvania and
Connecticut have already
passed bills. Grove said
Delaware is arguing that it
doesn’t need to pass a bill
due to gambling legislation
already on the books, and
added Mississippi may not
need to pass a bill. He said
an argument has been
made that that state’s fan-
tasy sports bill also autho-
rized sports betting.
The report listed 11 states
as having a good chance
of enacting sports betting
bills this year: Massachu-
setts; Rhode Island; New
York; New Jersey; West
Virginia; Ohio; Michigan; Il-
linois; Oklahoma; Kentucky
and Indiana.
It also listed states where
the introduction, much less
adoption, of a sports bet-
ting bill is considered un-
likely: Tennessee; Alabama;
Arkansas; Texas; Kansas;
Nebraska; North and South
Dakota; Wyoming; Utah;
Idaho; Alaska and Hawaii.
States across the nation
are looking for new sources
of revenue, and adding
or expanding gambling is
seen as an attractive op-
tion for many. q
Chase Elliott participates in NASCAR tire tests at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas,
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.
Elliott takes Chevy Camaro for
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)
— Chase Elliott took the
new Chevrolet Camaro
for its inaugural NASCAR
Cup laps on Tuesday and
Martin Truex Jr. climbed
into his Toyota for the first
time since becoming se-
ries champion. Soon-to-be
clean-shaven Ryan Blaney
and Aric Almirola, both
with new teams, ran laps at
Texas Motor Speedway in
their Fords.
A month before every driv-
er will be at Daytona for the
start of the new season, the
four drivers took part in the
first test of 2018 as a two-
day Goodyear tire test be-
gan on the 1 1/2-mile, high-
banked track in Texas.
The highlight was Elliott get- “Is it my favorite number?
ting in the Camaro ZL1,
though it was hard for him
to judge how much differ-
ent Chevy’s new Cup entry
will be when driving laps
alone.
“I have a hard time feel-
ing much of anything I’m
going so fast,” Elliott said.
“But, the car looks great.
From the public eyes stand-
point, I don’t know how
Wednesday 10 January 2018
you could not identify the
Camaro with the Camaro
on the street. It looks the
same. I think that is some-
thing to be very proud of
from Chevrolet. ... Job
well done from that stand-
point.”
The Chevy Camaro has
only two Cup Series vic-
tories to its credit, both by
Tiny Lund in 1971. More re-
cently, the Camaro SS has
been Chevrolet’s entry in
the Xfinity Series since 2013.
Along with a new car, El-
liott sported a new number.
After following four-time
champion Jeff Gordon in
the No. 24, Hendrick Motor-
sport this year is putting the
22-year-old Elliott in No. 9
— the car number of his fa-
ther, Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. and hopefully we can be
Yes, it is. Has it always been
my favorite number? Yes, it
has been,” Elliott said.
Elliott was sporting a Geor-
gia cap a day after be-
ing at the College Foot-
ball Playoff championship
game where his beloved
Bulldogs lost to Alabama in
overtime.
He said the game “was fun
for a little while.”
Associated Press
Truex said he had a lot few-
er off days this offseason
than usual after becoming
a first-time champion, but
said it has been a lot of fun
celebrating the champi-
onship by visiting different
places and different peo-
ple. The testing provided
the first chance for the Fur-
niture Row Racing driver to
wear his firesuit that now
has a champion’s logo .
“I feel the same now as I
did at the first time I got
in the car last year,” Truex
said. “We’re all at zero
points again right now.
The goal remains the same,
and the pressure is still go-
ing to be there, but defi-
nitely optimistic and feel
like we’re in a good place
competitive for years to
come.”
Blaney, now driving the
No. 12 Ford for Team Pen-
ske after making the play-
off chase last year with
the one-car Wood Broth-
ers organization, planned
Wednesday to have lunch
with fans who attend the
second day of the test. The
speedway was providing
the pizza.q