NASCAR, Gordon come to agreement on Motorola

HAMPTON, Ga. -- NASCAR vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter announced Saturday a compromise that will allow Robby Gordon to run a Motorola paint scheme in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 and throughout the year.

A paint scheme carrying a digital audio player Motorola design will be allowed on the car, thus ensuring the company's primary sponsorship of the No. 7 Ford.

Harry How/Getty Images

AT&T sues NASCAR over logo change

AT&T has filed a lawsuit against NASCAR as the company looks to phase out the Cingular brand on Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 Chevrolet.

• Complete Story

"When the team unloaded here, the car had a paint scheme on it that had yet to be approved," Hunter said. "We've worked to come up with a reasonable paint scheme solution."

Gordon showed up at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Motorola decals on the hood and fenders of his car, but before he could hit the track for practice on Friday, he was informed he had to remove the stickers.

Nextel, the entitlement sponsor of the Cup Series, asked that the decals be removed because Motorola is a competitor. Hunter said Nextel was in agreement with the compromise.

This decision came a day after another telecommunications giant, AT&T, sued NASCAR after racing series officials would not let the company put its logo on Jeff Burton's racecar.

Burton's No. 31 car is sponsored by cell phone service provider Cingular, but AT&T recently took full ownership of Cingular as part of its recent merger with BellSouth and intends to eliminate the brand name.

The lawsuit calls altering the design of the No. 31 car an "integral part'' of the company's brand name switch, and that NASCAR's refusal to allow it inhibits the company's ability to "attract new customers and retain existing ones.''

"Our position remains that we don't comment on litigation,'' Hunter said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story