By Mike Kerchner
Senior Editor
CONCORD, N.C. — When the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge took the green flag Saturday night, Jeff Burton’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was carrying AT&T logos.
But that’s the short part of a story for which the final chapter is likely far from being written.
AT&T, which purchased Cingular, the sponsor of Burton’s No. 31, earlier this year, has been fighting to rebadge the car with AT&T logos. They took the fight to U.S. District Court, and Friday the company won its argument — at least for now — before Judge Marvin Shoob, who issued a preliminary injunction to allow AT&T to replace the Cingular logos with its familiar globe.
However, NASCAR, which is attempting to protect Sprint-Nextel, the series’s primary sponsor, was granted a Saturday morning hearing with Shoob in an attempt to gain a stay in the case. However, Shoob again ruled in favor of AT&T.
Sprint-Nextel got involved Saturday afternoon, seeking an emergency appeal of the order in the 11th U.S.  Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal was denied, and the AT&T logos will remain until the actual case is heard in court in late June or July.
“We have formally filed to join this proceeding,” Dean Kessel, director of NASCAR marketing for Sprint-Nextel,  said in a statement. “We intend to vigorously protect our sponsorship from these unfounded claims of AT&T.”
Saturday afternoon the Childress crew placed AT&T logos on the car and changed into new AT&T uniforms.
Ironically, the ruling came hours prior to the Nextel All-Star Challenge, the signature event for Sprint-Nextel’s sponsorship of the series.
When Sprint-Nextel signed its sponsorship with NASCAR, it was provided exclusive rights as the telecommunications company of NASCAR, but Cingular and Alltel, which were already competing in the series, were allowed to continue to participate. AT&T believes since it bought Cingular, it is simply continuing the company’s involvement in the sport.