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Born: South Boston, Va. Resides: Cornelius, N.C. Family: Burton and his wife, Kim, have two children, Paige and Harrison. Team: Richard Childress Racing Car: Chevrolet Sponsor: Cingular Car owner: Richard Childress Crew chief: |
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closeBurton says sponsor issue needs decision
DAVID POOLE, dpoole@charlotteobserver.com
Saturday, Apr. 14, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas -- A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Atlanta on a request for an injunction that would allow AT&T to place its logos on the No. 31 Chevrolets driven by Jeff Burton.
“It has to come to a conclusion,” Burtons said of the dispute. “We can’t as a company continue without understanding what the result is and neither can AT&T. Nor can NASCAR, for that matter.”
NASCAR rejected proposed changes to Burton’s car that included AT&T logos because of NASCAR’s 10-year deal with Nextel for title sponsorship rights to stock-car racing’s top series.
Cingular, which was Burton’s sponsor at the time the Nextel deal was signed, was “grandfathered” in. But Cingular has merged with AT&T and the Cingular brand name is being phased out. AT&T wants to change the logos on the car, but NASCAR said the grandfather clause prohibits that. AT&T filed a lawsuit challenging that and asked for an injunction in that case.