PAGE 26 � S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S � Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sports briefs
The Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
-- Danica Patrick will make her
NASCAR debut this weekend at
Daytona International Speedway.
The IndyCar star will drive the
No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motors-
ports in Saturday's second-tier
Nationwide Series race.
The decision announced Mon-
day to race at Daytona was made
after team officials dissected
her stock-car racing debut in the
ARCA race at Daytona on Satur-
day. The team had left the option
to race up to Patrick, who wanted
to assess her first race before
deciding whether to enter one of
the most prestigious Nationwide
races of the season.
Patrick overcame a midrace
spin to finish sixth.
"Racing in the Nationwide Se-
ries race was my goal during this
entire two-month preparation
process, but we wanted to make
sure it was the right thing to do,"
Patrick said in a statement. "The
ARCA race was a blast, and I'm
not ready for my first Daytona
Speedweeks to end just yet. I want
more racing."
Patrick had been hesitant to
make her debut at Daytona be-
cause of the top talent that race
attracts. Sprint Cup drivers have
won nine of the last 10 Nationwide
races here. The lone exception
was Martin Truex Jr., who won in
2005 in a JR Motorsports car.
Patrick will be joined in the
field by Dale Earnhardt Jr., her
car owner. He has five victories
and 10 top-10 finishes in 17 Na-
tionwide races at Daytona.
Earnhardt will be driving
JRM's flagship No. 88, while Pat-
rick will be in the car she will
drive in 13 previously announced
races. Her schedule after Day-
tona includes the Feb. 20 race at
California and the Feb. 27 race at
Las Vegas.
"I think Danica proved to ev-
eryone that she can compete in
stock cars at a high level, and
right now seat time is extremely
important," said Kelley Earn-
hardt, Earnhardt's sister and
the general manager and a part
owner of JRM.
"She has worked extremely
hard during the past two months
for this opportunity. Her dedica-
tion and work ethic is infectious."
JR Motorsports acquired the
points from CJM Racing to en-
sure Patrick a spot in the field.
CJM Racing finished 15th in the
owner standings last season, but
has suspended operations.
In other auto racing news:
Former Formula One driver
Nelson Piquet Jr. will enter the
NASCAR Truck Series race at
Daytona International Speedway.
Red Horse Racing announced
Monday that Piquet will enter the
No. 1 Toyota in Friday's race at
Daytona.
The Brazilian driver has tested
several times with Red Horse and
made his stock-car debut in Sat-
urday's ARCA race at Daytona.
He started seventh and finished
27th.
Piquet triggered an F1 scandal
last year when he revealed he de-
liberately crashed his car to help
teammate Fernando Alonso win
the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Piquet was fired by Renault in
August, and began exploring op-
portunities in NASCAR shortly
afterward.
Florida St. vacates 12 football
victories, men's track title
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Flori-
da State announced Sunday it will
vacate 12 football victories and a
2007 men's track national cham-
pionship in an academic cheating
scandal, along with dozens more
victories and placings across 10
men's and women's sports.
The NCAA stripped the school
of victories in which 61 ath-
letes implicated in the scandal
contributed. The college sports
governing body upheld the de-
cision last month after Florida
State appealed the sanctions as
"excessive."
The men's basketball team lost
all 22 victories from 2006-07, and
women's basketball lost 16 vic-
tories that year, including two in
the NCAA tournament.
Bobby Bowden, who retired
after this season ranked second in
victories in major college football
behind Penn State's Joe Paterno,
has now won a few less. Bowden
finished with 389 before subtract-
ing the five victories from the
2006-07 season, including the
Emerald Bowl, and seven regu-
lar-season victories in 2007-08.
Florida State was allowed to
keep placings in sports like track,
cross country, golf and swim-
ming if they still had enough
points to win after subtracting
contributions from the implicated
athletes.
The school said it would return
all vacated trophies to the appro-
priate agencies this year.
Among the other victories
vacated:
Softball: 32 from 2006-07,
including two from the ACC
tournament.
Baseball: 4 from 2006-
07, including one in the NCAA
tournament.
Women's basketball: 6 from
2007-08.
Men's indoor track and
field: dropped from second
place to fourth in the NCAA
championship.
Dolphins' McDaniel arrested
for domestic violence
DAVIE,Fla.--MiamiDolphins
defensive tackle Tony McDaniel
was freed on $3,500 bond Sunday
after being accused of domestic
violence.
McDaniel, 25, returned from a
night out with friends and got into
a fight with his girlfriend early
Saturday at his home in Davie,
Fla., near Miami, police said.
McDaniel said in a police affi-
davit that his girlfriend attacked
him.
McDaniel is in his fourth sea-
son. He played for Jacksonville
for three seasons and came to
Miami in 2009. He had 16 tackles
and 1.5 sacks this season.
FIFA puts ref who missed
hand ball on World Cup roster
ZURICH -- FIFA has includ-
ed Martin Hansson among 30
referees selected for the World
Cup despite the Swede missing
Thierry Henry's hand ball dur-
ing France's decisive qualifier
against Ireland in November.
One of Hansson's assistants
from the all-Swedish crew that
officiated the France-Ireland
playoff was omitted, Fredrik
Nilsson, and replaced by Henrik
Andren. The other assistant, Ste-
fan Wittberg, will join Hansson
for the World Cup.
No Americans officials were
picked for the tournament, which
is scheduled for June 11-July 11
in South Africa.
IOC panel could strip U.S.
relay gold from 2004
VANCOUVER, British Colum-
bia -- The IOC opened a formal
investigation Sunday into a dop-
ing case that could lead to the
stripping of gold medals from a
U.S. women's relay team in the
2004 Athens Olympics.
The International Olympic
Committee executive board set
up a disciplinary commission into
the case of Crystal Cox, who ran
in the preliminaries of the win-
ning 4x400 team in Athens.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
said late last month that Cox had
admitted to using anabolic ste-
roids and accepted a four-year
suspension and disqualification
of her results from 2001 to 2004.
IOC vice president Thomas
Bach said he will lead a three-
member panel looking into the
case. Such a process has pre-
viously led the IOC to remove
national relay teams of medals
retroactively -- including three
U.S. teams from the 2000 Sydney
Olympics.
Under international rules, an
entire relay team can be disquali-
fied because of the doping of one
member, even an alternate. Rus-
sia would move from silver to
gold in the 2004 relay if the U.S.
team were disqualified. Jamaica
was third.
Sanya Richards, Dee Dee Trot-
ter, Monique Henderson and Mo-
nique Hennegan ran in the Athens
final.MoushaumiRobinsonjoined
Cox in the preliminary heat.
Aussies allowed to keep
boxing kangaroo flag
VANCOUVER, British Colum-
bia -- Australians can hop for joy:
Their boxing kangaroo is safe for
the Vancouver Olympics.
The International Olympic
Committee ruled Sunday that the
giant kangaroo flag -- the mascot
for the Australian team -- can
remain displayed in the athletes'
village for the duration of this
month's games.
The green and gold flag, which
depicts a red-gloved cartoon kan-
garoo, has been hanging from
a balcony from the Australian
team's living area in the village
since last Sunday.
TheAustralianshadbeenunder
pressure to take it down because
it was deemed too commercial
and a registered trademark.
Australian Olympic Committee
chief John Coates discussed the
issue with IOC president Jacques
Rogge, who then sent him a letter
confirming the flag could stay.
"While the IOC is of the view
that the display of the boxing
kangaroo at the Olympic village
is a breach of the IOC rules relat-
ing to clean venues, the IOC is not
going to request us to take down
the boxing kangaroo flag on this
occasion," Coates said.
Coates said the AOC was told
to register the kangaroo mascot
with the IOC for use in future
games.
In other Winter Olympics
news:
Convicted ex-Samsung
chairman Lee Kun-hee was re-
instated Sunday as a full mem-
ber of the International Olympic
Committee, a boost for South Ko-
rea's bid to host the 2018 Winter
Games.
Lee's rights were restored
by the IOC executive board, al-
though the IOC also gave him a
public reprimand for tarnish-
ing the Olympic movement and
banned him from serving on any
IOC commissions for five years.
Lee voluntarily gave up his
IOC rights after being indicted in
2008 in a financial and tax eva-
sion case. The South Korean gov-
ernment pardoned Lee last year,
clearing the way for his return to
the IOC.
Lee is now free to attend IOC
sessions, take part in IOC votes
and help South Korea's latest
campaign to host the Winter
Games.
The South Korean government
has said Lee will be a key figure
in the bid from Pyeongchang,
which is competing for the 2018
Games along with Munich and
Annecy, France.
Stricker rallies at Riviera
LOS ANGELES -- Even with a
big lead, Steve Stricker expected
a tough day. Everyone else ex-
pected him to win.
Turns out both sides were
right.
Stricker watched a six-shot
lead slip to two after just five
holes Sunday at Riviera before
he steadied himself and closed
with a 1-under 70 for a two-shot
victory over Luke Donald in the
Northern Trust Open.
His fourth PGA Tour victory in
his past 15 starts moved him up to
No. 2 in the world ranking.
Stricker won for the eighth
time in his career, and once again
welled up with tears after the vic-
tory. This time, all it took was a
reminder of where he was four
years ago, when he lost his PGA
Tour card.
"I remember where I was and
where I am now," Stricker said.
"It doesn't get any better."
Stricker didn't make it easy on
himself, having to grind for pars
as Donald kept pouring in bird-
ies. But after Donald missed two
short birdie attempts, Stricker
fired off two straight birdies to
restore a comfortable margin.
He finished at 16-under 268
and earned $1.152 million to go
over $25 million for his career.
Phil Mickelson, trying to be-
come the first player to win three
straight years at Riviera, had a 73
and finished 14 shots behind.
In other golf news:
Ross McGowan of England
might get the final spot in the 64-
man Match Play Championship,
but only if Tiger Woods doesn't
return from his indefinite break.
Sunday was the cutoff for play-
ers to qualify based on the world
ranking.
Kevin Na closed with a 5-under
66 at Riviera to secure his spot
in the $8.5 million World Golf
Championship, which starts Feb.
17 at Dove Mountain in Marana,
Ariz. Scott Verplank and Chad
Campbell also had good week-
ends to make sure they got in.
Woods, who announced his in-
definite break Dec. 11 to try to
salvage his marriage in the wake
of his extramarital affairs, is not
expected to play in the Match
Play Championship.
Phil Mickelson, who slipped to
No. 3 in the world Sunday, had al-
ready said he would not play this
year because of a family vacation
that had been postponed as his
wife battled breast cancer.
Players have until Friday to of-
ficially declare they are playing.
Danica making NASCAR debut at Daytona
DAVE MARTIN/AP
Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut on Saturday in the
Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

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