Hook's Center Sports Blog

Sports blog covering NASCAR, MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NCAA and More.

Blu Cigs

Entries for February, 2008

Robby Gordon appeals Sprint Cup penalty.

Robby Gordon wants everyone to know he’s no cheater.Gordon said Friday he has appealed the penalties handed down earlier this week by NASCAR, hoping the move will at least reduce the punishment for his Sprint Cup team. Gordon was docked 100 points and Robby Gordon Motorsports crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended for six races [...]

Leave a Comment

Stewart wins second consecutive Nationwide race in Toyota.

Tony Stewart won his second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series race, holding off Kyle Busch for the second consecutive week. Stewart beat Busch, his teammate in the Sprint Cup series, in a 1-2 Toyota sweep in the Nationwide season-opener at Daytona. He made it look a lot easier in the rain-postponed race at Auto Club Speedway [...]

Leave a Comment

Carl Edwards is California Dreaming in Fontana (2008).

Carl Edwards charged past reigning NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson with 13 laps remaining and won the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 on Monday. Johnson, winner of the past two series titles, came out of the final pit stop in the lead with 26 laps remaining, but Edwards surged from third to grab the eighth win of [...]

Leave a Comment

Open wheel racing reunites IRL and Champ Cars 12 years later.

With America’s two open-wheel series finally unified, the calendar poses the next roadblock: The season-opening race is just five weeks away. At this point, nobody knows how many teams and cars will move from the now-defunct Champ Car World Series to the Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series in time for the March 29 opener at [...]

Leave a Comment

Earnhardt Jr and Hamlin crash as Fontana Race is red flagged.

A wet few days in Southern California left NASCAR’s Sprint Cup drivers with a lot time on their hands Sunday.The Auto Club 500 finally began about 2 1/2 hours after its scheduled 1 p.m. start time, but it was slowed by two early crashes and then halted as NASCAR and track officials looked for a [...]

Leave a Comment

Top ranked Memphis Upset by No. 2 Tennessee

Memphis wanted to prove it really was the best team in the country, maybe even make a run at perfection.Turns out, the Tigers aren’t even best in their own state. Tyler Smith hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 28 seconds left and No. 2 Tennessee knocked off the nation’s last unbeaten team, edging [...]

Leave a Comment

TENNESSEE VS MEMPHIS: SHOWDOWN TONIGHT.

No. 1 vs. No. 2. Rival schools from the same state. A pair of fiery coaches who aren’t exactly crazy about each other. And, oh yeah, there’s the pursuit of perfection. No wonder the matchup between top-ranked Memphis (that’s the perfect one) and second-ranked Tennessee is being hyped like a championship fight. “Everybody else is [...]

Leave a Comment

DENNY HAMLIN LOOKS TO REBOUND IN FONTANA.

This week: Hamlin, who has scored one top-10 finish in four starts at California Speedway, posted the fastest speed during preseason testing at the two-mile track with a lap of 182.523 mph. For that reason, he can’t wait to get back out West. “We had a good test there, had a very good engine package, and [...]

Leave a Comment

KYLE BUSCH LOOKS FOR 2ND CALIFORNIA WIN.

This week: After becoming the “Toyota Terror” with an impressive performance in the Daytona 500, Kyle Busch heads to the scene of his first career Cup victory. He won the 2005 Labor Day weekend race for his first career victory in the series. “We ran in the top five all day long, but we really didn’t think we [...]

Leave a Comment

TONY STEWART LOOKS TO END DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA.

This week: Tony Stewart is a top driver who hasn’t won a race at California Speedway. He is 0-for-13 at the Inland Empire oval but has three top-five and six top-10 finishes in his 13 Cup starts. He finished eighth in this race last year and 13th last September. Stewart had the dominant car at the Fontana [...]

Leave a Comment