Judge says NASCAR can't stop AT&T from putting its logo on car

<p>A federal judge and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals each refused to grant NASCAR's requests for a stay to prevent Jeff Burton's No. 31 car from racing Saturday with the AT&T logo.</p><p>The first ruling, issued Saturday just hours before the Nextel All-Star Challenge in Concord, N.C., was the second in two days from U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob. On Friday, Shoob issued a preliminary injunction barring NASCAR from stopping AT&T Inc. from placing its brand on Burton's Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.</p><p>Following the second denial for a stay, NASCAR filed an emergency appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which also denied the request, according to David Balser, attorney for AT&T Inc.</p><p>Balser said he was awaiting a written order but said he expects NASCAR to follow through with an appeal through the 11th Circuit, even though the emergency appeal was denied.</p><p>"My understanding is that the 11th Circuit has called for an expedited briefing schedule; briefs will be due fairly quickly, and the case will be heard sometime this summer," Balser said.</p><p>NASCAR has tried to prevent the Cingular logo from being changed to the AT&T logo on Burton's car. AT&T is the sole owner of Cingular and is rebranding the cell phone company's name to AT&T.</p><p>After Friday's ruling, AT&T announced Burton's car would be repainted in time for Saturday night's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That decal switch already was completed by Saturday afternoon.</p><p>Sprint Nextel Corp. sponsors NASCAR's premier series, the Nextel Cup, and has exclusive rights as the telecommunications company for the series. Attorneys argued the only exceptions are companies, including Cingular, that already sponsored cars when Nextel reached its agreement with NASCAR.</p><p>San Antonio-based AT&T became the full owner of Atlanta-based Cingular when it completed its purchase of Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp. in December.</p><p>Cingular argued that its rights included changing its brand name to AT&T.</p><p>"The court concludes that the continued appearance of the Cingular brand on the No. 31 car, unaccompanied by any indication that Cingular now does business as AT&T, is likely to confuse NASCAR fans," Shoob wrote.</p><p>Shoob also concluded that AT&T has shown it will suffer irreparable harm in the form of loss of goodwill and loss of exclusive rights to renew its sponsorship agreement unless the court issues the injunction.</p><p>"We intend to vigorously protect our sponsorship from these unfounded claims of AT&T," Sprint Nextel marketing director Dean Kessel said in a statement Saturday.</p><p>NASCAR argued Nextel was entitled to exclusivity through its 10-year, $700 million investment that began in 2004. It also said it could be sued by Sprint Nextel if the court granted the injunction in favor of AT&T.</p><p>"Regardless of whether Sprint Nextel could or may bring suit against NASCAR, the court finds that the threat of such a suit does not outweigh the actual and imminent irreparable harm plaintiff will suffer if the court does not issue an injunction," Shoob said in his ruling.</p><p>The No. 31 car has been sponsored by Cingular Wireless LLC since 2001. Cingular had been a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth before AT&T purchased BellSouth.</p>