2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be the sixty-second season of professional stock car racing in the United States, which will begin at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida with the 2010 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, a race for the top six teams of the four brands in the 2009 season on February 6th, with the first points race being the 2010 Daytona 500 to be held on February 14th. The 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup will start on September 19th with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, and ending on November 21st with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The official schedule was announced on September 15, 2009.

Schedule

Like the 2009 schedule realignment, the calendar has forced some changes to the schedule, but this time less important. The Autism Speaks 400 at Dover is moved to 2 weeks earlier, to mid-May, and Phoenix and Texas swap dates. Also, all races will have standardized starting times, meaning that the 2010 Daytona 500 and the 2010 Ford 400 will be completely raced without lights, which according to critics would hurt West Coast ratings as those races started at 3 PM ET and ended in prime time on the East Coast.

NOTE: All race dates, names, distances, television and radio stations and start times are subject to change. Schedule changes are listed in boldface

2010 Sprint Cup Schedule
Date	Race	Length	Site	TV	Radio1	Time (US ET*)	Winner
2/6	Budweiser Shootout ♣ ¶	Segment 1: 25 Laps; 62.5 miles (100.6 km); Segment 2: 50 Laps; 125 miles (201 km)	Daytona International Speedway	FOX	MRN	5 PM
2/11	Gatorade Duels ¶ ♥	Two races; each 60 Laps 150 miles (240 km)	Daytona International Speedway	SPEED	MRN	1 PM
2/14	Daytona 500 ♣	200 Laps 500 miles (800 km)	Daytona International Speedway	FOX	MRN	3 PM
2/21	Auto Club 500	250 Laps 500 miles (800 km)	Auto Club Speedway	FOX	MRN	3 PM
2/28	Shelby 427	285 Laps 427.5 miles (688.0 km)	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	FOX	PRN	3 PM
3/7	Kobalt Tools 500	325 laps 501 miles (806 km)	Atlanta Motor Speedway	FOX	PRN	2:30 PM
3/21	Food City 500	500 Laps 266.5 miles (428.9 km)	Bristol Motor Speedway	FOX	PRN	1 PM
3/28	Goody's Fast Relief 500	500 Laps 263 miles (423 km)	Martinsville Speedway	FOX	MRN	1 PM
4/10	Subway Fresh Fit 500	312 Laps 500 kilometres (310 mi)	Phoenix International Raceway	FOX	MRN	3 PM
4/18	Samsung 500	334 Laps 501 miles (806 km)	Texas Motor Speedway	FOX	MRN	2:15 PM
4/25	Aaron's 499	188 Laps 500.8 miles (806.0 km)	Talladega Superspeedway	FOX	MRN	1:45 PM
5/2	Crown Royal Presents the Your Name Here 400 ♣	400 Laps 300 miles (480 km)	Richmond International Raceway	FOX	MRN	6 PM
5/8	Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com ♣	367 Laps 501.322 miles (806.800 km)	Darlington Raceway	FOX	MRN	5 PM
5/16	Autism Speaks 400	400 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Dover International Speedway	FOX	MRN	1:30 PM
5/22	NASCAR Sprint Shootout and All-Star Race XXVI ¶ ♣	Shootout: Two 20 Lap 30 miles (48 km) segments; All-Star Race: Four segments: 50 laps 75 miles (121 km) with mandatory 4- tire pit stop; two 20 laps 30 miles (48 km); final 10 15 miles (24 km) green flag laps.	Lowe's Motor Speedway	SPEED	MRN	7:30 PM
5/30	Coca-Cola 600 ♣	400 Laps 600 miles (970 km)	Lowe's Motor Speedway	FOX	PRN	5:45 PM
6/6	Pocono 500	200 Laps 500 miles (800 km)	Pocono Raceway	TNT	MRN	1 PM
6/13	Lifelock 400	200 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Michigan International Speedway	TNT	MRN	1 PM
6/20	Toyota/Save Mart 350	110 Laps 350 kilometres (220 mi)	Infineon Raceway	TNT	PRN	3 PM
6/27	Lenox Industrial Tools 301	301 Laps 318.458 miles (512.508 km)	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	TNT	PRN	1 PM
7/3	Coke Zero 400 ♣	160 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Daytona International Speedway	TNT	MRN	7:30 PM
7/10	LifeLock.com 400 ♣	267 laps 400.5 miles (644.5 km)	Chicagoland Speedway	TNT	MRN	7:30 PM
7/25	Allstate 400 at the Brickyard	160 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	ESPN	IMSRN†	1 PM
8/1♣	Sunoco American Red Cross Pennsylvania 500	200 Laps 500 miles (800 km)	Pocono Raceway	ESPN	MRN	1 PM
8/8♣	Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen	90 laps 220.5 miles (354.9 km)	Watkins Glen International	ESPN	MRN	1 PM
8/15	CARFAX 400	200 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Michigan International Speedway	ESPN	MRN	1 PM
8/21	Sharpie 500 ♣	500 Laps 266.5 miles (428.9 km)	Bristol Motor Speedway	ESPN	PRN	7:30 PM
9/5	Pep Boys Auto 500 ♣	325 Laps 500.5 miles (805.5 km)	Atlanta Motor Speedway	ESPN	PRN	7:30 PM
9/11	Chevy Rock & Roll 400 ♣	400 Laps 300 miles (480 km)	Richmond International Raceway	ABC	MRN	7:30 PM
9/19	Sylvania 300	300 Laps 317.4 miles (510.8 km)	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	ABC	PRN	1 PM
9/26	AAA 400	400 Laps 400 miles (640 km)	Dover International Speedway		MRN	1 PM
10/3	Price Chopper 400	267 Laps 400.5 miles (644.5 km)	Kansas Speedway		MRN	3 PM
10/10	Pepsi 500	250 Laps 500 miles (800 km)	Auto Club Speedway		MRN	3 PM
10/16	NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America ♣	334 Laps 501 miles (806 km)	Lowe's Motor Speedway		PRN	7:30 PM
10/24	TUMS Fast Relief 500♣	500 Laps 263 miles (423 km)	Martinsville Speedway		MRN	3 PM
10/31	AMP Energy 500	188 Laps 500.8 miles (806.0 km)	Talladega Superspeedway		MRN	1 PM
11/7	Dickies 500 ♣	334 Laps 501 miles (806 km)	Texas Motor Speedway		PRN	3 PM
11/14	Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500♣	312 Laps 310 miles (500 km)	Phoenix International Raceway		MRN	3 PM
11/21	Ford 400 ♣	267 Laps 400.5 miles (644.5 km)	Homestead Miami Speedway		MRN	3 PM

The total distance of the season will be 14,461.9 miles (23,274.2 km).
Key to symbols:
¹ - All races will be broadcast on Sirius XM Radio.
^* - Television times are listed. Fox will start (except for Daytona 500 and Aaron's 499) with a 30-minute pre-race show, TNT will have a 90-minute pre-race show and ESPN/ABC will have a one-hour pre-race show. Add an extra fifteen minutes following the pre-race show for the scheduled green flag of the race.
♣ - This race will be run at night or begin in the day and finish that evening.
¶ - Non-points race.
♥ - This is a pair of races that will set the field for the Daytona 500.
† - This race will be produced and distributed by IMS Radio and the broadcast will be produced in conjunction with Performance Racing Network.

Teams

Car #	Driver	Sponsor	Car make	Team	Owners standings
00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine / Tums (5 races)	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing
07	Casey Mears	TBA	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
1	TBA	Bass Pro Shop (20 races) / TBA	Chevrolet	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite	Dodge	Penske Racing
5	Mark Martin	GoDaddy.com (20 races) / Carquest (8 races) / Delphi (2 races) / TBA	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	David Ragan	UPS	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
7	Robby Gordon	Menards / POLARIS / TBA	Toyota	Robby Gordon Motorsports
9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
12	Brad Keselowski	Verizon Wireless ʋ	Dodge	Penske Racing
14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot / Old Spice / Burger King	Chevrolet	Stewart Haas Racing
16	Greg Biffle	3M	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
17	Matt Kenseth	Crown Royal (18 races) / TBA	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
18	Kyle Busch	M&Ms (23 races) / Pedigree (3 races) / Snickers (2 races) / Doublemint (2 races) / Interstate Batteries (6 races)	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Tools / TBA	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
20	Joey Logano	Home Depot	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont / Pepsi / National Guard·	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
29	Kevin Harvick	Shell / Pennzoil / Reeses	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
33	Clint Bowyer	General Mills / BB&T / The Hartford / Prilosec	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
39	Ryan Newman	US Army / Haas Automation	Chevrolet	Stewart Haas Racing
42	Juan Montoya	Target	Chevrolet	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
43	A.J. Allmendinger	Best Buy / TBA	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
47	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie / Clorox / Kingsford Charcoal / Bush's Baked Beans / Lance Snacks / Kleenex (5 races)	Toyota	JTG Daugherty Racing
48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's / Kobalt Tools	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing
56	Martin Truex, Jr.	NAPA Auto Parts	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing
66	Dave Blaney	TBA	Toyota	Prism Motorsports
71	TBA	Taxslayer.com / TBA	TBA	TRG Motorsports
77	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Mobil 1 / Penske Truck Rental / AAA - Auto Club	Dodge	Penske Championship Racing
78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing
82	Scott Speed	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team
83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy / National Guard	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
98	Paul Menard	Menards	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
99	Carl Edwards	Aflac / Subway / Scotts (6 races)	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing

ʋ - This car is sponsored by Verizon, however it will not run the Verizon logos due to Sprint's exclusivity clause in their title sponsor contract with NASCAR. Due to that clause, Verizon was unable to assume the grandfather clause rights of Alltel when the purchase was completed. The team and Verizon are attempting to run the car as unbranded, similar to Marlboro in Formula One and the IRL. Verizon's contract with Penske Racing expires at the end of the 2010 season.

Mergers

Richard Petty Motorsports & Yates Racing in September 2009 announced the intent to merge into a 4-car team for 2010 with Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Kasey Kahne (#9 Budweiser), Elliott Sadler (#19 Best Buy) & A.J. Allmendinger (#44 switch to #43) and Yates Racing driver Paul Menard (#98 Menard's) making up the driver lineup. The team plans to race Ford Fusions.

TV and Radio

USA

Fox Sports, their corporate sibling Speed, TNT, and ESPN/ABC are in the fourth year of a seven year television contract scheduled to expire after the 2013 season.

Fox

Fox Sports will continue to broadcast the first 13 races, including the Budweiser Shootout, the 52nd Daytona 500, and the Coca-Cola 600. With Dover moving to mid-May, Fox will end their coverage with the 51st Coca-Cola 600. The Sprint All-Star Race XXVI along with the Gatorade Duels, practice sessions, and all qualifying and practice sessions (except for Daytona qualifying, which will air on Fox) will all broadcast on Speed.

TNT

Time Warner's Turner Sports division (through TNT) will continue to broadcast the next six races, including the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in its limited commercial interruption wide open coverage format. TNT's coverage will begin with the June Pocono race and end with Chicagoland. Qualifying and practice sessions will remain on Speed.

ESPN/ABC

ESPN will then carry the next six races, beginning with the Brickyard 400. ABC will carry the 26th race of the season (Richmond in September) and the entire Chase for the Sprint Cup. ABC does not have the right to move any races to ESPN, unless the race is postponed due to weather/unforeseen events. Most qualifying sessions will air on ESPN2, practice sessions and some qualifying will be shared by Speed and ESPN2.

Radio

On radio, Sirius XM Radio will carry all races in the series. Terrestrial radio rights are being handled as follows:

• Motor Racing Network will carry races at tracks owned by their corporate sibling, International Speedway Corporation as well as the races at Dover and Pocono and the All-Star Race at Charlotte;
• Speedway Motorsports, Inc.-owned Performance Racing Network will carry events from those SMI tracks, and will joinly produce the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.

Other North American Channels

In Canada, TSN and TSN 2 will have full coverage for the 2010 season.

International

In Australia, Fox Sports will show all Sprint Cup races live across their networks. Network Ten will also show races on its digital sports multichannel, ONE.

In Portugal, all races this season will be telecast on SportTv 3, while in Sweden, Viasat Motor will televise the races.

In nearby Finland, Urheilu+Kanava will telecast the season's events.

In Great Britain and Ireland, the whole season will again be telecast on Sky Sports and BBC Sport