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HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Ryan Blaney has experienced a range of emotions since Sunday, from disappointment to relief.

The No. 12 Team Penske driver was disqualified after the opening race of the round of eight in NASCAR’s playoffs because of an alleged illegal front shock on his Ford.

But NASCAR reversed the disqualification a day later because of a flawed template used during the postrace inspection, leaving Blaney with a much smaller deficit to overcome in the playoff field when the round of eight continues Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“A lot of emotions,” Blaney said Saturday, “but it was nice that it ended up, I think, as it should have.”

Only Kyle Larson has clinched a spot in the championship finale next month — the Hendrick Motorsports driver won the opening race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But Monday’s reversal restored Blaney’s sixth-place finish in that race and reduced his deficit from 56 points below the playoff cut line to 17.

“It’s still going to be hard to make it,” Blaney said, “but it’s not like a must-win. So it gives you a little more hope.”

Blaney, who is trying to make his first Cup Series championship finale, was running third in Homestead last year before he spun out. He said he’d like to capitalize on his experience in past races here, but anything can happen.

“Here you can have problems. Running the wall you can break some stuff pretty easy,” Blaney said. “You just go race and do the best you can.”

Larson, last year’s Homestead winner, has little to gain in these next two races leading up to the championship, but that doesn’t change his approach to Sunday’s race.

“The pressure is probably a lot less than what other drivers are feeling,” Larson said, “but I feel like I want to win just as bad as anyone else does, too.”

Larson’s teammate William Byron is second in the playoff field. Teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing round out the top four.

Truex gave Toyota its 500th pole win in NASCAR competition with a pole victory Saturday. He will lead the field for Sunday’s race.

Truex turned a lap of 167.441 mph, ahead of teammates Bubba Wallace (167.115 mph) and Tyler Reddick (166.955), who qualified second and third.

It is Truex’s 22nd career Cup series pole.

“I didn’t really expect to get the pole today, honestly,” Truex said. “After practice, I felt like our car was pretty good in the long run, and we needed to make some tweaks to be better for tomorrow.”

Truex won the regular-season title but has flamed out in the playoffs as he vies for a second Cup title.

After Sunday’s race in Homestead, playoff drivers will have one more shot to reach the championship finale. The round of eight concludes at Martinsville Speedway next weekend.

Before that, Kevin Harvick will return to the track where he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship nine years ago.

Sunday’s race is named the 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 in a nod to Harvick, who will retire from NASCAR at the end of this season after 60 career victories, three NASCAR national series championships and 13 consecutive playoff appearances.

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing driver will run the same paint scheme he won with at the 2014 championship at Homestead. NASCAR senior adviser Mike Helton, whom Harvick has developed a close relationship with over the years, will be an honorary starter for the race, and Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers and his family will serve as grand marshals.

“What we set out to do was tell the story of the past 30 years,” Harvick said Saturday, “and reintroduce the fans that weren’t around to the early part of my career. … It’s been a great ride.”

Childers described his relationship with Harvick as the easiest one could have. Harvick’s fellow competitors lauded his intensity and leadership.

“In my opinion, he’s a Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart — when he leaves, you’re going to notice that he’s not there anymore,” Hamlin said. “He’s certainly been a leader in the sport. He’s kind of the last legacy guy we’ve got in our sport that used to know how it used to be. He’s an important figure.”

Harvick has not won a race this season.

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.

Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.

The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.

Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Quarterback Ryan Browne has decided to transfer back to Purdue after joining North Carolina earlier this offseason.

Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.

Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.

Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.

By returning to West Lafayette, Browne will get an opportunity to compete for a starting job with Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton, Washington State transfer Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith, a former Arizona State transfer.

The Boilermakers lost one quarterback, EJ Colson, to the transfer portal earlier this week.

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U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

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U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

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