National briefs: ESPN taking NASCAR

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE — ESPN is shifting the bulk of its Chase for the Sprint Cup championship coverage to its cable network this season, taking 14 of the 17 NASCAR races it shares with partner ABC.

ESPN executive vice president John Skipper says the decision is based on the cable network's higher ratings.

ESPN has aired six races a year the past three seasons, while ABC has had 11 each year.

ESPN's portion of the NASCAR schedule will begin with the July 25 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ABC will air Saturday night races at Bristol, Richmond and Charlotte.

- MADRID— Former Renault Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr., who last year triggered a scandal by revealing he deliberately crashed his car to help a teammate, is moving to NASCAR in 2010.

Piquet Jr. said Tuesday on his Web site that his "first 18 months in F1 did not go as planned. I have decided to focus on something different and have chosen to take a route in America."

Piquet Jr. hasn't raced since being fired by Renault in August after 28 races in which his best finish was second at the 2008 German GP. He did not reveal which team he would race for but more details will come soon.

BASEBALL

LAGUNA NIGEL, Calif. — The ball Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th home run will be auctioned off online.

- CLEVELAND — Indians starter Jake Westbrook is confident his reconstructed right elbow can withstand the grind of a season.

Westbrook hasn't pitched in the majors since May 28, 2008, two weeks before he underwent Tommy John surgery. Westbrook recently made four starts during winter ball in Puerto Rico and said Wednesday that he came away feeling better than at any time during his rehab.

- DETROIT — Oft-injured reliever Joel Zumaya and the Detroit Tigers avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a $915,000, one-year contract on Wednesday.

- PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs expect to decide within a month whether to keep their spring training home in Arizona or move to Florida.

- SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants have completed their $3 million, one-year contract with Aubrey Huff.

GOLF

HONOLULU — Jesper Parnevik is trying to stay out of the loop when it comes to Tiger Woods' marriage so he won't say anything he might regret.

No other PGA Tour player had such a personal stake in Woods' infidelity than Parnevik, who once employed Woods' wife, Elin, as a nanny and was responsible for introducing them.

Woods has not been seen in public in two months, and Parnevik said Tuesday he doesn't know if they will stay together.

"I've kind of stayed out of it," he said at the Sony Open, his first tournament of the year. "It's better that people don't approach me if I don't know anything. That way I don't say anything that I shouldn't have. Like if she told me something and I let it slip out. It's better that I don't know, so I can say, 'I don't know.' "

TENNIS

SYDNEY — Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals at the Sydney International with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina of Russia on Wednesday.

Elena Dementieva had to wait out a two-hour delay for rain at the start of the night session before ousting Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 in a repeat of the outcome of last year's Sydney final.

BOXING

LONDON — Ricky Hatton is returning for one more fight following last year's loss to Manny Pacquiao.

The 31-year-old Hatton (45-2) says he has "had a good break" since his second-round knockout loss to Pacquiao in an IBO title fight last May and has been building his boxing promotions business.