as JFR said, Cingular and Alltel were grandfathered in. However, IIRC, the clause in the contract that JFR talks about specifically mentions existing telecom teams making logo changes as being no good (in addition to not allowing new telecoms to sponsor cars).
So while one might say that Sprint/Nextel are whiners (though honestly, I can't see why they wouldn't put that kind of clause in such a contract) or whatever, NASCAR is obligated by the contract that they signed to do what they did.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
as JFR said, Cingular and Alltel were grandfathered in. However, IIRC, the clause in the contract that JFR talks about specifically mentions existing telecom teams making logo changes as being no good (in addition to not allowing new telecoms to sponsor cars).
So while one might say that Sprint/Nextel are whiners (though honestly, I can't see why they wouldn't put that kind of clause in such a contract) or whatever, NASCAR is obligated by the contract that they signed to do what they did.