Hocevar back home and confident

Carson Hocevar grew up 80 miles west of Michigan International Speedway, where he attended his first race at the age of 5. As a kid in Portage, he dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver that people talked about. The 22-year-old Hocevar, pictured, got his wish. He knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of last week’s race at Nashville and his aggressive style has created a buzz in a sport that traditionally has young drivers trying to find the line between aggressive and reckless driving. “It’s cool to be talked about,” Hocevar said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “Obviously, you want to be talked about maybe in a different light. But I mean, at least they’re talking, right? And, I think that’s big for me.” Hocevar called Stenhouse earlier in the week to discuss their contact on Lap 106 of 300 at Nashville, where Stenhouse was bumped from behind and sent into a wall. Both said the conversation was productive. “I don’t think he crashed me on purpose,” Stenhouse said. “But I think he was super impatient. We’ve never had any issues. He’s had plenty of issues with other people.”

Ronaldo plans to not play Club WC

Cristiano Ronaldo says he’s almost certain he will not be playing at the Club World Cup, dealing a blow to FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s hopes of having one of soccer’s biggest attractions at the tournament. The Portugal captain confirmed Saturday that he received “quite a few” offers from participating clubs to play for them at the tournament starting June 14, but had decided against accepting any of them. “Some things make sense to talk about, other things don’t, and, as a person says, you can’t take part in everything,” Ronaldo said. “You have to think about the short, medium and long term. It’s a decision practically made on my part not to go to the Club World Cup, but I’ve had quite a few invitations to go.” The 40-year-old soccer great was speaking in Munich a day before Portugal’s Nations League final against Spain. Infantino had suggested last month that Ronaldo, who is still contracted to Saudi team Al-Nassr until the end of June, could switch to one of the 32 clubs taking part in the Club World Cup because of a unique transfer window created for the tournament.

Texas softball wins 1st national title

Mia Scott hit a grand slam, Teagan Kavan won again and Texas defeated Texas Tech 10-4 in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series championship series on Friday night to claim its first national title. Texas had lost to Oklahoma in the championship series two of the previous three years. Oklahoma was one of the teams Texas beat on its way to the championship. And Texas coach Mike White finally won in his ninth World Series trip between his coaching stints at Oregon and Texas. “I’m still trying to process the whole thing,” White said. “Actually, it’s something you dream about.” Kavan, a sophomore, allowed no earned runs in all 31 2/3 innings she pitched at the World Series. She went 4-0 with a save in the World Series for the Longhorns and was named Most Outstanding Player. She was happy to win it for White in the Longhorns’ first year playing in the Southeastern Conference. “Without coach White, I don’t know if we’re here,” she said. “He’s the best. He’s so competitive. He wants it just as bad as we do, of course. And he pushes us to be better every day. He makes me a better pitcher mentally and physically. And so there’s no one else I’d rather play for. He’s the bomb, and I’m glad we got it done for him.” —Associated Press