In a world where race cars are stamped with as many corporate sponsors that will fit on the sheet metal, it's really weird to see a car with no logo on the hood or sides. Seriously, it looks like Jeff Burton (#31) is driving an oversized Hot Wheels car in this Getty photo. There's a (logical?) reason for this. Burton's main sponsor is AT&T. NASCAR's main sponsor is Nextel. Two phone companies. Awk-ward.
Last Friday a heated sponsorship war finally boiled over and a court ruling blocked Burton and his team from using the AT&T logo as the dominant sponsor. As Leitch said last week regarding Comcast v. Big Ten Network, "whenever corporations argue with each other, the only certainty is that we'll all lose." Although in this case, since I really don't give a hoot about AT&T or Nextel, it's simply funny to see two cell phone giants slap it out.
But AT&T isn't giving up, and they're going to try to get the U.S. District Court to re-examine the case. I hope they do. In fact, I hope this case makes it all the way to the Supreme Court, because I just want to see the media cover that spectacle. RVs parked outside the courthouse all week. Drunk moms flashing Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, that consists of only two words: "Rubbin's racin'."
Nextel Cup's Burton Will Hit The Track Without Ads [Houston Chronicle]