Auto Racing Capsules: Stewart acquires points for Patrick to run Daytona
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Danica Patrick will be guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500 via a partnership with Tommy Baldwin Racing.
TBR will officially 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 last season 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.
No injuries in fire at Joe Gibbs Racing
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Joe Gibbs Racing says no employees were injured when a fire broke out in its machine shop.
A spokesman for the NASCAR team says a few employees were treated on site for smoke inhalation, but were not transported to the hospital. All employees are back in the building following the Tuesday fire.
It's the second fire at the Gibbs race shop in about a year. The fire last year caused substantial damage to the JGR engine shop. Joe Gibbs Racing fields Sprint Cup Series cars for Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.
Formula One
Former F1 driver Sutil convicted for fight
MUNICH (AP) — Former Force India driver Adrian Sutil was convicted on Tuesday of causing grievous bodily harm to a Formula One team owner in a nightclub confrontation in China and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
The Munich district court handed down the verdict and sentence after a two-day trial. The prosecutors asked for a 21-month suspended sentence. Sutil also was fined $262,200, to be paid to charities.
"The defendant knew that he had this glass in his hand. The glass was moving in an intended direction," judge Christiane Thiemann said in her ruling.
Sutil was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Renault team executive Eric Lux at a party following Lewis Hamilton's victory at the China Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 17. Lux needed two dozen stitches after being cut in the neck by a broken glass.
Sutil, in his final statement before the verdict, apologized once again to Lux and said he had not realized he was still holding the glass in his hand at the time of the incident.
"I regret the incident very much. It's a lesson for me," Sutil said.
Sutil's lawyer, Juergen Wessing, argued that Sutil's action was unintentional and a reflex, but prosecutor Nicole Selzam rejected it as "ridiculous."
After the verdict, Sutil said he was relieved that the case was over "and that I am in the clear with Eric Lux."
Sutil talked with Lux on Monday by telephone and another attempt to settle the case fell through on Tuesday before the verdict, according to the dapd news agency.
The German told the court Monday that he had "tried everything" to settle the case out of court, offering "tens of millions" and a charitable donation but was turned down by Lux.
"I'm terribly sorry. I never wanted what happened there to happen," Sutil said on the first day of the trial.
Sutil said last year he wanted only to spill his drink on Lux, who was part owner of the team now renamed Lotus, and that causing the injury was "unintentional and accidental."
The 29-year-old Sutil lost his seat at Force India after five seasons to fellow German Nico Hulkenberg in December.
Sutil's agent, Manfred Zimmermann, said he was hoping his client could land a deal next week to become a test driver for one of the Formula One teams.
