Can You Say "Monopoly"? 

On Thursday, Robby Gordon pulled into the track, probably hoping that that there would be no problems. NASCAR quickly caught up with him, proving it was not to be so. NASCAR informed Robby that he would have to remove all Motorola "wireless" decals from it. They also made it clear that, until he complied, he would not be allowed to take the car out on the track. NASCAR claimed sponsor conflict, as they have with AT&T. Those who paid attention Saturday, discovered that a small Motorola decal still remained on the car. I didn't know if this was overlooked, or a concession. By Sunday a deal was made to allow Motorola to feature an audio player scheme. (NASCAR approved the audio player scheme for the rest of the season.)

For those who haven't followed the Richard Childress Racing/AT&T story, NASCAR informed RCR that he would not be allowed to replace the Cingular scheme on their #31 Chevrolet with AT&T, claiming sponsor conflict. The conflict stems from NASCAR's contract with Sprint Nextel. One of the conditions of the deal was that rival "wireless" companies could not be allowed to sponsor cars in the Cup Series. At the time, this caused an uproar. Teams realized that their sponsors could, potentially, be banned. Sponsors realized that it could be them next. Before the contract was signed, a concession by Sprint Nextel led to a "grandfather clause", allowing companies already sponsoring cars to remain. They weren't dummies, though, the clause meant that new rival companies would not be allowed to sponsor. (note: the clause only pertains to the Nextel Cup Series, thus Motorola's freedom to sponsor Robby Gordon's Busch ride.)

When AT&T purchased Cingular Wireless, they decided to phase out the Cingular brand, little by little. Thus AT&T's problem, thus Richard Childress' problem. AT&T would be a new "wireless" sponsor, and that would be against Sprint Nextel's "non-compete" clause. If you ask me it's poor form. Are they afraid of a little competition? The very foundation of racing is competition. Sprint Nextel already had a strike against it with a lot of fans; some still refer to Cup racing in Winston terms, so they don't need to look greedy.

For now, the Cingular brand remains on RCR's #31, but that could change at any time. AT&T took it to court, and the rumors are a decision could come at any time. If you ask me, I think anyone interested in sponsoring, with the exception of illicit material, should be allowed to do so. (I won't go into the Winston thing, because that was a forced situation.) With teams closing, due to lack of funds, why would you exclude anyone?

Nextel is a really good phone, but it will always be Winston Cup to me. Hey, maybe AT&T should go WFO on 'em and try their hand at IROC. The IROC Series sponsored by AT&T. Hmm...

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