Patrick gets spot in Daytona 500
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Danica Patrick will be guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500 via a partnership with Tommy Baldwin Racing.
TBR officially will field Patrick's No. 10 Chevrolet in all 10 of her Sprint Cup Series races this season. It will begin the season with the points Dave Blaney earned in 2011 for the No. 36 car.
Because Blaney finished 33rd in points last season, his car is guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races of the season. Teams can transfer or sell the points to another team, and Stewart-Haas Racing acquired them so Patrick is guaranteed to race in the Feb. 26 season opener. TBR will field the No. 10 for David Reutimann in the 26 races that Patrick does not have on her schedule.
Joe Gibbs Racing said no employees were injured when a fire broke out Tuesday in its machine shop in Huntersville, N.C. A spokesperson for the NASCAR team said a few employees were treated on site for smoke inhalation, but were not transported to the hospital.
• Former Force India driver Adrian Sutil was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to Renault team executive Eric Lux in a nightclub confrontation in April in China and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Serena Williams said her sister Venus has been training every day and will be ready for Fed Cup matches this weekend against Belarus -- her first competitive tennis since she pulled out of the U.S. Open because of an autoimmune disease.
• Andy Murray will miss Britain's Davis Cup match Feb. 10-12 vs. Slovakia after sustaining "a few injuries" in his run to the Australian Open semifinals.
Former national team captain Claudio Reyna and goalkeeper Tony Meola are among 12 first-time eligible players for the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.
Organizers of America's Cup next year in San Francisco Bay said they will reconsider the format of the challengers' series after receiving only three entries. Only Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa of Italy and Artemis of Sweden paid the $100,000 entry fee. It is unlikely other syndicates would enter at this late stage.
Ken Hershman, new president of HBO Sports, said the long-desired Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout has a "sell-by date" of later this year or early next year. He said after then, it becomes "less and less relevant." Boxing's top two stars, and they have circled each other warily for more than two years.
Oakmont Country Club assistant pro Jason Marciniec was named head professional at Cattail Creek CC in Baltimore.
First Published February 1, 2012 12:00 am
