Wheels & Deals: NASCAR Could Learn From AT&T Injunction

AT&T Ruling Could Lead To Changes In Ways NASCAR Contracts Are Written

In Charlotte, David Poole cites sources as saying that the court ruling allowing AT&T to replace Cingular as primary sponsor of NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Jeff Burton’s No. 31 Chevy is “based on the ‘four corners’ principle of contract law.” Poole: “A court can only go by what’s within the ‘four corners’ of the paper on which a contract is written, and not by what either party intended it to say.” The injunction “does not appear to mean the court thinks NASCAR can’t sell exclusive rights to a big-time sponsor,” but it has to “do a better job of spelling out the boundaries of that exclusivity in the paperwork” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/24).

SMILE WIDE: In a Q&A with the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER’s David Scott, Coca-Cola North America Dir of Motorsports Marketing Ben Reiling said the Nextel Cup Coca-Cola 600 is the company’s “crown jewel” in racing and it “jumps off the page with our other sports sponsorships,” including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four. When asked if Coca-Cola would be interested in painting the walls at Lowe’s Motor Speedway red for the race, Reiling said, “It might be great from a marketing standpoint. ... It would certainly be unique” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/24).

EVERNHAM: Nextel Cup team Owner Ray Evernham “insisted that the recent announcement that parent company DaimlerChrysler will sell Chrysler Group ... has not muddied the negotiation waters” with potential investor George Gillett. Evernham: “I know George already is a Dodge dealer and has a great relationship with them. But I don’t think Dodge being sold has really any input on what George is doing” (NASCAR.com, 5/22)....Evernham drivers Kasey Kahne and Scott Riggs appear with Allstate policy holders and agents in a new print ad campaign, via Leo Burnett, Chicago. The campaign uses the tag “proud sponsor of the best drivers in the world” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/23).