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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Harvick pulled onto pit road after his final race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, climbed out of his seat, grabbed a water from his 11-year-old son Keelan, slapped the boy on the back and posed a question.

“What now?” he said with a grin.

The 60-time NASCAR Cup Series winner put a coda on his 23-year career with a seventh place finish at Phoenix Raceway. The 47-year-old said at the beginning of the year that this would be his final season and he’ll move into the Fox Sports broadcast booth for 2024.

But for one more day on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Phoenix, he was a racecar driver. His No. 4 Ford Mustang started on the inside of the second row, complete with a “Harvick” emblazoned across the hood as part of the Busch Light logo.

It’s no surprise Harvick was competitive in Phoenix, which has always been one of his best tracks. He’s a nine-time winner and closed his career with 21 straight top 10s. He even took a brief lead in his final race, passing William Byron on lap 93 as the crowd roared from the stands.

The Bakersfield, California, native said it’s always been a big deal to be good at a track near the West Coast.

“As you look at Phoenix, it’s always just a little extra special,” Harvick said. “Everyone knows how much it means to me to do good here. A lot of people have been here since the mid-’90s watching me race. So you don’t want to come here and suck.

“But to do that 21 times, win nine races, I’m so fortunate.”

Harvick raised a toast to his crew after the race and fielded congratulations from a handful of drivers, including teammate Chase Briscoe. After that, he sat on a cooler, soaking in the atmosphere that was a little celebratory but also a little bittersweet.

“It really hasn’t been about wins and losses, but you never want to flop around,” Harvick said. “To be able to lead laps in the last race, it tells you how competitive we still are.”

Three-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, brought Harvick to the team in 2014. The partnership was productive immediately – Harvick won his only Cup championship in his first season and would go on to win 37 races over 10 years.

Stewart said on Saturday that he’d “lose a little sleep” thinking about Harvick’s last race.

“Kevin Harvick is probably the most well-rounded driver out there,” Stewart said. “Obviously, he’s a great racecar driver, but he knows how to build championship-winning teams, putting the right people in place, he understands the business side of it, he understands the marketing side of it.

“I would challenge anyone to find someone in the series as a driver that can do all those aspects as well as Kevin.”

Harvick’s departure is part of big changes for Stewart-Haas Racing heading into 2024. The team is also losing Aric Almirola, a 39-year-old who wants to scale back to a partial schedule after 12 full-time seasons and three wins in the Cup Series. Josh Berry will take over Harvick’s seat in 2024 while Almirola’s replacement hasn’t been named.

“Aric’s just calm, cool and collected all the time,” Stewart said. “But he’s a great family man, great husband, great father and great friend. I’m excited for both these guys, I’m excited for their next journey, but it is sad that 24 hours for now it’ll all be over.”

Harvick made his Cup Series debut the week after Dale Earnhardt‘s fatal crash in the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500. He was supposed to be eased into Cup competition by Richard Childress Racing and mentored by the seven-time champion Earnhardt, and instead was his emergency replacement.

Those early days weren’t easy. The then 25-year-old got into altercations with rivals, was combative with NASCAR officials and the media, and generally made the situation he’d inherited more difficult. Now he’s a former Cup champion whose 60 career victories, good for 10th on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

Harvick is notoriously stoic, but even he became a little emotional thinking about more than two decades of excellence. When a reporter reminded him that his two children wished him luck over the radio before the race, Harvick couldn’t totally contain the emotion.

“Yeah, well, that’s not normal, so they probably loved that and um … so,” he said.

Then he turned and walked away. A few tears followed and he hugged his wife.

“For me, it’s been a great ride,” Harvick said. “I don’t have anything to complain about.”

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Auburn’s Freeze diagnosed with prostate cancer

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Auburn's Freeze diagnosed with prostate cancer

Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and is expected to make a full recovery after doctors detected the disease in its early stages, the school announced Friday.

Freeze, 55, will continue coaching the Tigers while receiving treatment, Auburn officials said in a statement.

“Recently, Coach Freeze was diagnosed with an early form of prostate cancer,” the statement said. “Thankfully, it was detected early and his doctors have advised that it is very treatable and curable. He will continue his normal coaching duties and responsibilities, and with forthcoming proper treatment, is expected to make a full recovery.

“Coach Freeze is incredibly appreciative of our medical professionals and has asked that we use his experience as a reminder of the importance of prioritizing and scheduling annual health screenings.”

The Tigers are scheduled to start spring practice March 25.

Freeze’s teams went 11-14 (5-11 SEC) in his first two seasons, including a 5-7 campaign in 2024. With the additions of transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), wide receivers Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech) and Horatio Fields (Wake Forest), offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin (Virginia Tech), and others, the Tigers are expected to be much improved this coming season.

At Liberty, Freeze coached from a hospital bed set up in the coaches’ box during the Flames’ 24-0 loss to Syracuse in his debut on Aug. 31, 2019. Freeze was recovering from surgery for a herniated disk in his back and a staph infection.

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Iowa State gives AD Pollard 5-year extension

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Iowa State gives AD Pollard 5-year extension

AMES, Iowa — Jamie Pollard, the Iowa State athletic director since 2005, has received a five-year contract extension through 2030, the university announced Friday.

The Cyclones have had unprecedented success in the major sports in 2024-25. The football team had its first 11-win season and the ninth-ranked men’s basketball team has been in the top 10 all season and achieved its highest ranking since 1956-57 when it reached No. 3 in December.

Terms of Pollard’s contract will be announced later, the school said.

“I am humbled to have had the opportunity to lead our athletics program for the past 20 years,” said Pollard, who thanked the administration for its support. “We have an amazing culture in our athletics program, led by our talented and dedicated coaches and staff. Although our industry is undergoing transformational change, I am confident our department will successfully embrace these challenges with the same energy and urgency that has proven to be successful in the past.”

Pollard, the nation’s third-longest serving Power 4 athletic director, has overseen $340 million in new construction and facility renovations. Since 2011-12, and excluding the 2020-21 pandemic year, ISU is the only school in the nation to have average attendances over 50,000 in football, 12,000 in men’s basketball and 9,000 in women’s basketball.

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Bowling Green’s Loeffler takes QB job with Eagles

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Bowling Green's Loeffler takes QB job with Eagles

Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler is leaving the school after six seasons to become quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Loeffler, 50, went 27-41 at Bowling Green but led the Falcons to bowl appearances in each of the past three seasons, posting a 16-10 record in MAC play during the span.

He will replace Doug Nussmeier, who left the Eagles with Kellen Moore to become the New Orleans Saints‘ offensive coordinator. Loeffler will work under new Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who had been the team’s passing game coordinator and associate head coach.

“Scot has been dedicated to not only BGSU Football, but to all our student-athletes and BGSU Athletics, as well as our Falcon Marching Band and spirit programs,” university president Rodney Rogers said in a statement. “He cares deeply about player development and student success, and we wish him all the best as he continues his coaching career in the NFL with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.”

Loeffler returns to the NFL for the first time since 2008, when he coached quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions. A former Michigan quarterback, Loeffler coached QBs at his alma mater from 2002 to 2007 and also with Central Michigan and Florida. He first became an offensive coordinator with Temple in 2011 and made coordinator stops with Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College before landing his first head-coaching opportunity at Bowling Green.

The coaching change means Bowling Green players now have a 30-day window to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The Falcons had already lost three All-MAC performers to the portal in December in running back Terion Stewart (Virginia Tech), offensive tackle Alex Wollschlaeger (Kentucky) and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. (Kansas). Bowling Green also is losing record-setting tight end Harold Fannin Jr. to the NFL draft.

Athletic director Derek van der Merwe will lead the search for Loeffler’s replacement. In a statement, Van der Merwe praised Loeffler for building “a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports.

“I am looking forward to this process of finding the next great leader for our program who embraces what it means to be a Falcon,” Van der Merwe added.

ESPN’s Max Olson contributed to this report.

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