AT&T sues NASCAR over desired No. 31 logo change (cont'd)

"Sponsors just don't fall out of trees. We could be in the position of not having sponsorship, and, of course, that puts me and my whole team in a position to decide what we are going to do. I certainly don't want to be in that position, especially when we have a company that is willing to step up to the plate and sponsor us for many, many years in the future."

Note: On Friday, Robby Gordon removed the Motorola decal from the hood of his No. 7 Ford after NASCAR officials informed him that using Motorola as a primary Nextel Cup sponsor also violated a specific exclusivity provision of the title sponsorship agreement with Sprint/Nextel. Motorola has been an associate sponsor on Gordon's Cup car for the first three races of the season, which is permissible under the agreement.

"As the sanctioning body, it is NASCAR's responsibility to police the sport," Tharp said. "There are certain contractual agreements that must be abided by as they pertain to paint designs and sponsorships and how they are utilized. This was one of those cases."

Ironically, Sprint/Nextel uses Motorola as a supplier of cellular phones -- as do many wireless service providers -- and promotes Motorola phones in some of its advertising.