AT&T sued NASCAR Friday after the motor sports regulator would not let it replace the Cingular logo on Jeff Burton’s race car with AT&T branding.
Burton’s No. 31 car is sponsored by Cingular, however AT&T recently took full ownership of Cingular as part of its recent merger with BellSouth. AT&T has said it plans to eliminate the Cingular brand name.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
The No. 31 car is owned by RCR Racing and driven by veteran driver Jeff Burton. Burton currently ranks third in the 2007 NASCAR Official Driver Standings with 453 points.
The suit was filed after NASCAR rejected a plan to change the paint scheme for the No. 31 car. The proposed change would introduce the AT&T globe on the rear quarter panel. Cingular is currently transitioning its brand name to AT&T. Officials have repeatedly not allowed AT&T to switch the logo because of NASCAR’s deal with Nextel, which sponsors NASCAR’s top series the Nextel Cup, according to the Associated Press.
In the lawsuit, AT&T said Cingular has spent more than $100 million to establish itself as a “loyal supporter” of NASCAR, and that nearly half its customers identify themselves as NASCAR fan, the report said.
AT&T’s suit alleges that NASCAR is effectively trying to force the company out of the sport, and notes a grandfather clause in the sponsorship agreement, which was designed to protect its rights after Nextel assumed the role of title sponsor in 2003, AT&T said.
“There is nothing in our contract that prevents us from changing the Cingular brand name to our new brand, AT&T, on the No. 31 car,” said John Burbank, vice president of marketing for the new AT&T, in a statement. “Cingular’s grandfather clause, which was provided to us by NASCAR before we signed our agreement with RCR, states we can continue as a sponsor as long as we do not increase our brand position on the vehicle we sponsor and do not move to a different race team. What could be clearer?”
AT&T said it tried to resolve the issue over the past few months, but that it became obvious that it needed to take the next step and file the lawsuit.
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