MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP)—Travis Geisler replaced Chris Carrier as crew chief for rookie Sam Hornish Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Tuesday.

Geisler, a 27-year-old mechanical engineering graduate from Vanderbilt, has been the race engineer for Ryan Newman’s No. 12 Dodge. He played a key part in that team’s Daytona 500 victory in February.

“We appreciate the effort Chris has put into this role. However, this is a performance-oriented business. When the results are not meeting the expectations, we have to make changes,” said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing. “Travis is another example of our willingness to promote from within. His depth of knowledge as a racer and engineer, as well as his proven ability to work with both drivers and crews, will be a great addition to the entire Mobil 1 team.”

Hornish, a three-time IndyCar Series champion and the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner, is trying to make the transition to stock cars. Heading to Bristol this week, Hornish, driving the No. 77 Dodge, is 33rd in the season points and has a best finish of 13th in May at Charlotte.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Clay Bennett’s ownership group has reached a final settlement with the city of Seattle allowing the former SuperSonics franchise to move to Oklahoma City.

Attorneys filed a document Tuesday in Seattle federal court noting that the parties had agreed to pay their own court costs after reaching the settlement.

Bennett announced last month that a settlement was being negotiated that would involve him making a payment of up to $75 million to Seattle to get out of the final two years of a lease at KeyArena.

At that time, he had expected the settlement to be finalized by Aug. 1. Instead, a time extension was sought from the court and terms weren’t reached until now.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—Louisville quarterback Matt Simms was suspended for the team’s first four games of the season by coach Steve Kragthorpe on Tuesday for breaking team rules.

Simms, a redshirt freshman, was competing with Tyler Wolfe for the backup spot behind starter Hunter Cantwell.

Simms is the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms and the brother of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms.

Matt Simms will be eligible to return to the team when the Cardinals play at Memphis on Oct. 10.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—Marcus Freeman doesn’t mind staying in the background while All-American James Laurinaitis gets all the attention.

He’s also more than happy to stay in the shadows when two teammates are trading pranks.

“I’m not a huge fan of people pranking me back, so I just like to watch and get a good laugh,” Freeman said of the almost constant give and take between Laurinaitis and his Ohio State backup at linebacker, Austin Spitler.

Quietly and effectively, Freeman has established himself as one of the best linebackers around. He was a second-team all-conference choice by the Big Ten coaches last year and is expected to be even better heading into his fifth season.

Yet few know him.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Tight end Brandon Warren made his first appearance as an official member of Tennessee’s football team on Tuesday looking relaxed and sporting a big grin on his face.

Earlier in the day, the NCAA informed the Volunteers that Warren, who caught 27 passes for 301 yards as a freshman at Florida State in 2006, would be cleared to play for No. 18 Tennessee this season.

“It’s been a long process, a long, stressful process for me and my family,” Warren said. “I finally get to get a good night’s sleep.”

The Alcoa native has been trying to get approval to play ever since leaving in February 2007 to be near his mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, but Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden chose not to release him from his scholarship.

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SEATTLE (AP)—Much to his relief, Jake Locker no longer has to be a spectator.

Washington’s star sophomore quarterback returned to practice this week after missing 11 days with a hamstring strain that had many fans concerned about his availability for the Huskies opener on Aug. 30 at Oregon.

“I don’t expect to be anything less” than 100 percent, Locker told reporters on Tuesday.

The Huskies will need him at full strength for the critical opener against their Northwest rivals, and the start of three straight games against ranked teams to begin the season.

“I feel good. I got a chance to run around at practice yesterday (and) throw the ball,” Locker said. “I’m still limited, but felt good.”

Locker was injured on Aug. 7 during a non-contact practice drill. Any significant injury would be a crushing blow for a team already young at the skill positions on offense and facing a daunting schedule to start the season. After opening with the No. 21 Ducks, Washington returns home for consecutive non-conference matchups against No. 16 BYU and No. 4 Oklahoma.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—Matt Cassel is aware of his critics.

They say the New England Patriots are finished if Tom Brady misses games and he has to take over for a long period. They look at his preseason statistics and reach the same conclusion.

Fans pile on him on talk radio. TV commentators take their shots.

On Tuesday, Cassel stood tall at his locker. Brady, nursing a foot injury and yet to play in an exhibition game, was nowhere in sight. The backup who has thrown just 72 passes in three NFL seasons and four college seasons, said the criticism motivates him.

“It always fires you up,” he said. “You go out there and you want to prove people wrong and get better.”

He has quite a way to go, although he may be farther along than the Cassel-bashers think.

“We have confidence in Cass,” wide receiver Jabar Gaffney said Tuesday. “He’s a smart quarterback and we believe if he’s out there that he can make the right reads and do what Tom does out there.”

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PITTSBURGH (AP)—Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu participated in a full practice for the first time this preseason on Tuesday.

Polamalu, who has been selected to the past four Pro Bowls, was placed on the physically unable to perform list on the first day of training camp. He had injured his hamstring before arriving and has only worked out lightly on his own.

“I like the fact that they’re taking it slow because a hamstring is the kind of thing that you definitely don’t want to have linger throughout the season,” Polamalu said.

Polamalu made it through practice at the team’s facility Tuesday “looking pretty good,” coach Mike Tomlin said. Later, neither Polamalu nor Tomlin would commit to his playing Saturday against Minnesota.

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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP)—Brett Favre has watched film of his ill-fated throw in the NFC championship game and replayed it in his mind countless times.

There was no way, many thought, the three-time MVP could step away from the game with that as the last image of his storied career. Redemption, despite all the records and victories, had to be the reason Favre stepped out of retirement, right?

“I can see where people would think that,” the New York Jets quarterback said Tuesday. “That’s happened to me twice in my career and believe me, it’s disappointing, but wanting to come back for one play, to me, is obviously the wrong reason to come back. Or wanting to come back to prove someone wrong, or wanting to come back from what happened this offseason.

“The only reason I came back was I wanted to play. It’s as simple as that.”

But what if the Packers had beaten the New York Giants to go to the Super Bowl?

“Maybe we’re not here,” he said. “I have no idea.”

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ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP)—Oakland Raiders cornerback DeAngelo Hall has ligament damage in his right hand and may have to wear a protective cast for the rest of the preseason.

“I talked to my doctor and he said I tore some ligaments or something,” Hall said as he walked off the practice field Tuesday. “I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”

Hall was injured in training camp before the preseason started and initially was uncertain how badly his hand was hurt. He underwent an MRI and X-rays which showed no break, but the Raiders had the veteran cornerback seek a second opinion.

When the pain in his hand continued, Hall sought out his own doctor for advice.

“It’s something where he still has to wear a cast because of a bruise,” Oakland coach Lane Kiffin said. “We think by the time we get to the (season) opener, that it will be a non-issue.”

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