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Dale Earnhardt Jr. wont race in 2016, and his continued absence will bring many questions about not only his own future but the future of his team.It doesnt end there. The absence of this kind of star even draws questions about NASCAR in general, even though it has worked hard not to rely on Earnhardt -- the winner of the most popular driver award in each of the past 13 years -- as the sole face of the sport.Dale is definitely a leader in our sport, said Elliott Sadler, who drives for a team co-owned by Earnhardt in the Xfinity Series. He is one of the good guys. Hes one of the blue-collar guys, down-to-earth guys, the guy who tells it like it is.He is one of the true grit racers in our sport and always has been.Earnhardt can continue to be a leader in the sport. Many have praised him for making the decision to get out of the car, but he will also point out he didnt feel there was any way he could race in the condition hes in. He also has, through social media, showed fans what some of his rehab entails.For Earnhardt, he will have to balance any risks to coming back versus his desire to race. The emphatic answers he gave last month when asked about retirement -- bolstered by the resurgence in his career the past five years that has seemed to reinvigorate him -- show he desperately wants to race again.His contract runs through next season, and he had talked about an extension with team owner Rick Hendrick. Many in the sport believed that extension would likely be Earnhardts last, that he would race well into his mid-40s (he turns 42 in October) and then hang it up.His team will work with a couple of drivers the remainder of the year. Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon will do four more races, including this weekend at Darlington. He will run at tracks hes traditionally strong at -- Richmond, Dover and Martinsville.Alex Bowman will run the rest, giving the 23-year-old several opportunities to show what he can do and get comfortable in the car.The team now goes into this stretch knowing it could win only what is called the owners championship. It really is a team title, and it means much more to teams than it does to the public. But the bonus money is the same to the team as it is for who wins the driver title.Crew chief Greg Ives said the motivation for the Hendrick No. 88 team comes from wanting to run well. His team sits 15 points outside the final spot in the owner version of its Chase with two races left in the regular season.Every point I can get on the racetrack drives me, Ives said. The pride is being able to finish races and get as many points as possible.The health of our driver is No. 1. ... To be able to strive through [some mechanical issues] and still be 15th in points and know we have to get a couple more to be able to ensure a potential owners championship, that drives us with a little bit of a spark.Ives doesnt worry that his crew might want to leave if Earnhardt cant return. He said the atmosphere at Hendrick Motorsports -- where the Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson teams share a shop -- creates more of a sense of working for the company than a specific driver.I dont think anybody is forecasting that far ahead, Ives said. For me, I know Im not. ... Its just one of those things where we keep going, keep working hard.Its not just Earnhardts Sprint Cup team that is affected. Other drivers, if they have concussions, will see what Earnhardt did and be encouraged to follow a similar path. But drivers with less secure sponsorship and rides still could feel pressure to race while injured.Drivers know they compete in a dangerous sport. And despite how much work goes into safety, they tend to put a lot of their future up to fate.Time will tell, Joey Logano said about Earnhardts return. Im not going to be the guy thats going to be able to answer that question for you.All I can say is hes in our thoughts and our prayers and either way Gods got a plan for him and it will work out, but a lot of the time you dont know Gods plan until it happens.There also is the challenge for the sport in having its most popular driver absent.Attendance and ratings dont seem to have been affected yet by his absence -- tracks with expected sluggish sales have been sluggish -- but now that fans know he wont be at their track, there certainly is at least mild concern throughout the sport.The first track that comes to mind is Talladega, where ticket sales since Earnhardts announcement have not shown an impact, according to a spokesman.NASCAR has tried to push its younger drivers into the limelight. The 26-and-under drivers include Logano, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher.The elimination-style Chase format introduced in 2014 also has added drama to the final 10 weeks of the season.When Dale Jr. is the most popular driver in our sport and you dont show up to the track for two or three weeks, not that you are forgotten, but its crazy how things move on,?Jamie McMurray?said.I dont know that any of us knew what to expect or how that was going to go, but I dont know how to say that and to be, like, correct. ... He is iconic and he is obviously the most popular guy, but it will move on and it will continue to be a great form of auto racing in the United States. Kolton Miller Jersey . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Wholesale Raiders Jerseys . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. 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The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. NORMAN, Okla. -- A wacky weekend in college football renewed Oklahomas seemingly dormant playoff hopes.Oklahoma has rallied from a rough start to the season, and losses by Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Texas A&M and Auburn last Saturday opened up the field for the Sooners to possibly claim one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff if they keep winning. The eighth-ranked Sooners (8-2, 7-0 Big 12) will travel to No. 10 West Virginia (8-1, 5-1) Saturday night with a chance to claim a share of the Big 12 title and remain alive for a second straight playoff berth.Were not looking into that, Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans said of the playoff. We see it. Some guys in the back of their mind, maybe. But it doesnt matter if we dont handle our business.Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he doesnt worry too much about other results, though he enjoyed Iowas 14-13 win over Michigan. He played at Iowa and later became an assistant coach there.Im rooting for the Hawkeyes, Stoops said. Absolutely. A big congrats to them. Outside of that, Im not sitting there with my pompoms out.Oklahoma seemingly had no path back to the playoff, but since their early losses to Houston and Ohio State, they have won seven straight. In Big 12 play, the Sooners are averaging 48 points and 591.1 yards per game, both tops in the league.I think we have a ton of guys that were real with themselves, a coaching staff that was real with themselves, offensive tackle Orlando Brown said. Weve all taken it upon ourselves individually, as a group, as a team, as a university, to see what we had to get bettter at.dddddddddddd. What we were doing bad, what we were doing good -- we took them and we went from there.The Sooners beat then-No. 25 Baylor 45-24 last Saturday , and West Virginia and Oklahoma State, Oklahomas final two opponents, provide opportunities for quality wins late in the season.All that matters is what weve been doing each and every week, Stoops said. Well be our best Saturday night. Eight Eastern, seven Central, and well be ready to play our best game. Next week will be a different week.Even after the Sooners started winning, a playoff slot wasnt even a thought after the Sooners gave up 854 yards in a 66-59 win over Texas Tech .Only reason I think it (Texas Tech game) was good is we were still able to come out with a win in that game, Evans said. Weve kind of flipped our defense around. It was a good wakeup call for us.Since then, Oklahoma has allowed 51 points combined in wins over Kansas, Iowa State and Baylor. The Sooners have risen to No. 3 in the Big 12 in scoring defense and total defense, No. 2 in pass efficiency defense and No. 1 in rushing defense.It has been a complete U-turn from that game, Evans said. Our intensity, our effort -- guys are making more plays. The number one thing is guys are having more fun doing it. Guys are wanting to get back out there each and every Saturday and wanting to get to practice on Monday to get better and to keep it going.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP ' ' '