NASCAR's Nextel Cup to Become Sprint Cup in 2008

NASCAR Cup Series racing will endure another name change prior to the beginning of the 2008 racing season. According to a late night news release on July 6th, NASCAR.com reported that an official announcement would be made by NASCAR officials on Saturday, July 7th prior to the night time running of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France was accompanied by Sprint Chief Marketing Officer Tim Kelly as well as Sprint Vice President of Experiential Marketing Tom Murphy and Nextel Cup Series Director of Marketing Dean Kessel in making this announcement, a July 7th news release stated.

Fans of NASCAR's premiere series have long wondered if Nextel's merger with Sprint would result in a name change for Cup racing. The verdict is now in: a change will be made. One concern fans and NASCAR officials have shared over a name change is any confusion it might create between Sprint as a sponsor for Cup series racing, and a sport known as sprint car racing.

Sprint car racing, popular on short tracks and sometimes on dirt tracks, is governed by the United States Auto Club, or USAC, and is in no way affiliated with NASCAR. Despite a lack of affiliation, many NASCAR drivers spent time as sprint car racers prior to moving to NASCAR.

Prior to 2004, the top series in NASCAR was known as the Winston Cup Series. Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds departed from NASCAR following the 2003 season, leaving a vacancy in sponsorship after 31 years of affiliation.

Nextel, known for its innovative design of combining walkie-talkie technology with cellular phones, stepped up to the plate and agreed to sponsor Cup racing for a period of ten years, for unspecified terms thought to be between $70 and $75 million in support with annual increases throughout the period.

Less than one year after taking over top billing in NASCAR's top series, Nextel found itself in a merger situation with former rival cellular carrier Sprint. Since the merger in late 2004, officials within Sprint/Nextel and NASCAR have repeatedly denied that a name change was imminent, as Sprint had no immediate plans to discontinue Nextel branding.

With six years remaining as of the start of the 2008 racing season, the change from Nextel Cup to Sprint Cup may be timely, but may also upset a fan base still reeling from the departure of Winston in 2004. The change may also be seen as a sign of instability for a sport that continues to undergo transformation. Changes in recent post-Winston years have included the start of the Championship points system and Race to the Championship format as well as several revamps to that system. Other recent changes include the introduction of Toyota as a Cup manufacturer and the Car of Tomorrow (COT) in 2007.

NASCAR has also weathered difficulties due to its association with Nextel in recent months, according to NASCAR.com, based on a lawsuit over using symbols of other cellular carriers on sponsored cars in Cup Series events. Following the merger of AT&T and Cingular, the news release reports, AT&T filed suit against NASCAR to be able to display its name and symbols on the number 31 Richard Childress Racing car.

When the lawsuit progressed, an injunction resulted, allowing for AT&T branding to be used on the car. NASCAR then filed counter-suit, in order to protect its exclusivity agreement with Nextel. Although Cingular has long sponsored the same car, driven by Jeff Burton, the change to AT&T was perceived as a greater threat.

With speculation ending, the official announcement of the change from Nextel Cup to Sprint Cup will result in a media and fan frenzy as sportscasters and spectators alike get used to the new sound of NASCAR. With slightly more than half of the 2007 season remaining after Saturday's Pepsi 400, NASCAR has its work cut out in order to rebrand its top series before the start of the new season in February 2008 with the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Sprint also announced in the July 7th news release the beginning of a contest called the SprintSpeed Million, where a lucky fan will win a million dollars for correctly choosing the winner of the Cup Championship. Twelve fans in all will be chosen to compete; one fan will pair with each driver in the top 12 competing for the Championship. This contest will open July 15th and close September 3rd. For more information on the contest, visit the Sprint website.

Reference:

"NASCAR's Premier Series Renamed Sprint Cup for '08"." NASCAR.com. (http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/07/07/sprint.cup/index.html)

"Officials to Announce Series Name Change to Sprint Cup." NASCAR.com. (http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/07/06/sprint.nextel.cup.name.change/index.html)