Nextel signed a 10-year, $700 million deal to become the title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series before the 2004 season and at the time, insisted that Nascar ban rival telecoms companies from becoming sponsors. Exceptions were agreed for existing telecom team sponsors such as Cingular and Alltel.
But now, Cingular has been acquired by the AT&T company, which plans to phase out the Cingular brand name. Nextel doesn’t want the Richard Childress Racing team to put AT&T logos on its car, arguing that the exemption no longer holds.
Nascar is working closely with the team to come up with a compromise deal before the start of the 2007 season.
