NASCAR Wins Appeal Over AT&T
NASCAR won a major court decision Monday as the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a temporary injunction issued by a district court judge that had allowed AT&T logos to be placed on the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing car under NASCAR's grandfather clause for telecommunication sponsors.

"Because Cingular [now AT&T Mobility] was neither a party to nor an intended beneficiary of the [grandfather clause], it has not itself suffered a legally cognizable injury as a result of NASCAR's interpretation," the three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to overturn the May 18 decision of U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob.

The decision by the Atlanta-based court could result in removal of the AT&T logos from the No. 31 Chevrolet driven by Jeff Burton as soon as the Aug. 17-19 race weekend at Michigan International Speedway. AT&T still has the option of asking the court to reconsider.

"Obviously we're pleased," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "This is good news for every driver and team in the sport, which benefits from our exclusive relationships. As we've always said, there are three key sponsors that benefit everyone in the industry - the tire manufacturer, the fuel supplier and the [series] title sponsors. This decision confirms those relationships."

NASCAR, citing its exclusivity agreement with Sprint Nextel for the sponsorship of its premier series, had barred AT&T from using its logos to replace Cingular on the RCR car.

AT&T and Cingular merged in December 2006. AT&T went to court, arguing that NASCAR's grandfather clause (which went into effect in 2004 when Nextel signed a 10-year deal to replace Winston as the Cup Series sponsor) in its annual contract with RCR did not preclude the change in logos.

The appeals court ruled that NASCAR did not intend for AT&T Mobility to benefit, and therefore couldn't be a third-party beneficiary to the NASCAR-RCR agreement, which included the grandfather clause in an addendum. Because RCR was not required to renew its relationships with Cingular, AT&T did not have a legal right for its logos to be put on the car, the court ruled.(scenedaily.com)

Kyle Petty Suffers Broken Hand
Kyle Petty, driver of the #45 Wells Fargo/Marathon/Tire Kingdom Dodge suffered a broken hand as a result of hitting the butt of his hand on a door inside the hauler after a lap 69 incident in Sunday’s Centurion Boats at The Glen at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course.

Petty was treated and released in the infield care center during Sunday’s event. Petty flew back to his home in North Carolina where he was treated by a doctor who determined that the hand was broken. No word on whether he will be able to run the Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway this coming Sunday.

GM-Hendrick Renew Contract
Hendrick Motorsports has verbally agreed to a five-year contract with General Motors, keeping NASCAR's most powerful organization in Chevrolets through 2012.

"We're done," team owner Rick Hendrick said after Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International. "We haven't signed it, but we've verbally agreed."

GM is in the last year of all of its contracts with teams in the Nextel Cup series. Re-signing HMS was key, particularly with speculation that Joe Gibbs Racing may be leaving for Toyota. Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., GM's other top teams, remain in negotiations but are expected to re-sign.(espn.go.com)

Mark Martin Will Be Featured On ABC's “NASCAR in Primetime”
Mark Martin will be featured in a five-part series on ABC News starting Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 10 p.m. ET. -- The series - “NASCAR in Primetime” - is an unscripted behind-the-scenes look into the world of NASCAR racing. ABC News chronicled Martin’s life -- at and away from the track -- for several months, which began at the start of the 2007 season.

“I think it should be a really interesting look into what goes on each week,” said Martin, driver of the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet. “There is a lot that people don't see about this business. I really don’t think the public has any idea of all the work that goes into making a successful race team. I know I’m excited about watching it and I think it will be a good chance for our fans to get a good look at what goes on behind the scenes.”

The nationally syndicated series is a docu-reality style series that promise to offer viewers a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the inner workings of stock-car racing. The five-part series was filmed over the course of five months by ABC News and documents the personal and professional lives of stock-car drivers who compete weekly in NASCAR.

Each one-hour episode of NASCAR in Primetime will provide viewers "uncensored access" to some of its top drivers -- including Martin, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya -- and follow everything from their preparation before the race to their competition on the track. Martin is set to be featured in the first two episodes.

Busch Announcement Tuesday
ESPN is reporting that Kyle Busch will be formally introduced as the new driver at Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday morning at the team's Cornelius, N.C., shop. ESPN.com reported on Monday that Busch selected JGR over Chip Ganassi Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., Richard Childress Racing and Evernham Motorsports.

Busch declined to say where he was going to in any of the last weekend's interviews, saying only that he had made a decision but nothing had been signed yet. Also Joe Gibbs Racing has scheduled a press conference for a "driver announcement for the No. 18 car" on Tuesday..

Mike Ford Crew Chief Of Race
Conservation was the theme of the day at Watkins Glen International for crew chief, Mike Ford, and the No. 11 FedEx Ground Chevrolet team. Prior to the running of the Centurion Boats at the Glen, Ford developed a strategy with his young driver, Denny Hamlin, focused on maintaining their Chevrolet’s brakes while obtaining the best fuel economy possible; two critical factors that could put them in good stead for a high placed finish. Knowing that his driver was not an experienced road course racer, Ford was able to coach Hamlin to a well planned second place finish, the team’s ninth top five of the season. For his well-executed race strategy and teamwork with Hamlin, Ford was awarded the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chef of the Race.

After yet another rained out qualifying session placed the field on the starting grid according to owner’s points, the No. 11 crew took the green flag from the outside pole. Varying pit strategies throughout the field did not entice Ford to wavier from his plan, keeping Hamlin in the top five for the majority of the 90–lap race, the third and final road course of the season. With impatient drivers attempting to get to the front, resulting in spinouts and accidents, Ford knew the importance of keeping his driver with the leaders without having him fall back in the pack. Ford’s race strategy went as planned, building on growing momentum, as the ten-race chase for the series championship is now only four weekends away.

“I kept emphasizing to Denny the importance of conserving his brakes,” said Ford after the race. “Once we passed the halfway point we turned to fuel consumption and trying to stay out front. We wanted to be sure we didn’t get caught up in any of the mess behind us.”

A panel of voters, including a member of the local media, Kenny Francis, Tony Eury Jr., Robbie Reiser and a WYPALL* Wipers representative, agreed Ford’s race strategy gave him just the edge he needed to be awarded the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. “I don’t recall many laps when those guys were not in the top five,” said Reiser of the No. 11 team. “Mike did exactly what he needed to do and stuck to his plan. Great job by the 11 team today.”

As the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race, Ford received $1,000. Earning his third crew chief of the race award puts Ford tied for first in the overall standings with Robbie Reiser. Tony Eury Jr., Larry Carter, Donnie Wingo, and Chad Knaus are tied for second, each with two wins. Jimmy Elledge, Tony Gibson, Steve Letarte, Mike Nelson, Darian Grubb, Alan Gustafson, Chip Bolin and Ryan Pemberton each have one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most wins will receive $20,000 and be crowned WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.