NASCAR-AT&T spat revs up

Hang on, sports fans. We’ve got a hum-dinger of a race here.
NASCAR filed a $100 million countersuit against AT&T Inc. for alleged breach of contract and fraud over Richard Childress Racing’s plans to change the sponsorship of Jeff Burton’s No. 31 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS from Cingular to AT&T. AT&T is in the process of dropping the Cingular Wireless name as part of its acquisition of BellSouth Corp. early this year.
“Cingular knew that its promise to abide by the terms of the NASCAR rule book was false when it was made, and Cingular had no present intent to perform when such promise was made,” stated NASCAR in the counterclaim, which was filed at the same Atlanta federal court that last month gave AT&T a preliminary green light to make the name change.
NASCAR accused AT&T of pursuing a grand plan to sabotage its relationship with wireless competitor Sprint Nextel Corp., which is in the midst of a 10-year, $750 million sponsorship agreement of NASCAR’s top racing series.
“On the very same date that Cingular executives signed the application on behalf of Cingular, Cingular’s internal documents demonstrate that it was developing a comprehensive plan to ‘ambush’ Nextel’s bargained-for exclusivity at the Daytona 500,” NASCAR stated.
AT&T downplayed NASCAR’s move, saying it intends to be in the racing game for the long run.
“We think that NASCAR’s most recent legal move has no merit and will be dealt with accordingly. AT&T has been involved with Cup racing for more than 10 years. Only just today we announced a contract extension with Richard Childress Racing. We are confident we will be involved in the sport for years to come,” said Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman.
AT&T today extended its contract with Richard Childress Racing to will ensure the No. 31 AT&T Chevrolet remains a competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series well into the future.
“As long-time supporters of racing and its fans, we are very pleased to continue our involvement with the sport as a team sponsor in the wireless category,” said Dave Garver, executive director of high growth segments and sponsorships for the wireless division at AT&T. “We’ve enjoyed our relationship with Jeff and Richard Childress Racing, and look forward to continuing to work with them through many more winning seasons.”