Nine of the 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and 14 total races in all will air on ESPN next season, the network announced Wednesday.
ABC, which aired 11 races last year, will air three NASCAR races in 2010 -- all on Saturday nights. ESPN will handle the other 14 races to end the season, starting with the Brickyard 400 on July 25 and concluding with the final race of the season Nov. 21 at Miami-Homestead.
All of the East Coast races will begin at 1 p.m. ET. West Coast races will begin at 3 p.m. ET (other than the Sept. 5 race at Atlanta, which is a 7:30 p.m. ET start).
The three Saturday night races on ABC will be at Bristol, Tenn. (Aug. 21); Richmond, Va. (Sept. 11); and Charlotte (Oct. 16), with the Charlotte race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. All begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.
"Last year's performance showed us that ESPN provides the best home for NASCAR," said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president, content, in a statement.
"This is exciting news for NASCAR and our fans," said NASCAR Media Group President Paul Brooks, in a statement. "The ESPN subscriber base is larger than ever at nearly 100 million, and the network has the proven ability to attract younger viewers. As the premier network during the most competitive time of the year for sports, having more NASCAR races on ESPN will create more exposure."
Starting on Aug. 28, ABC will show 16 straight weeks of sports on Saturday nights, including the Little League World Series, three NASCAR races and 12 college football games.