David Stremme has Verizon colors but no Verizon logos on uniform or car

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, February 06, 2009
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David Stremme's No. 12 Penske Racing car gets worked on in the garage at Daytona International Speedway.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR has approved a paint scheme and uniform for Penske Racing’s No. 12 car and driver David Stremme that has the Verizon and Penske red and black colors but neither with the Verizon logo featuring a thin red check.

NASCAR must approve all uniforms and paint schemes, and the Penske team had to go through a more scrutinized process because of the Cup series sponsorship from Sprint. NASCAR is responsible for making sure that none of Sprint’s rivals have branding in the garage, and Verizon, which bought out Penske sponsor Alltel earlier this month, is a sponsor of the organization and has its logos on the Nationwide Series car.
 
Penske Racing crewmen spent part of Friday morning covering up a little bit of red striping near the front of the car with black strips. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said NASCAR asked for the minor change but the rest of the paint scheme has been approved.
 
The paint scheme has red striping on the side of a black car. The Penske logo is on the hood and it says Penske on the side of the car.
 
Stremme showed up at NASCAR Media Day on Thursday with a uniform that was virtually identical to Penske Racing development driver Justin Allgaier with the exception of the Verizon logo with the thin red check mark that adorns Allgaier’s Nationwide Series uniform. But all the other red markings on the suit were similar. Verizon can have its name on the Nationwide car, but not on a Sprint Cup car.
 
For Budweiser Shootout practice, Stremme had an altered uniform with less red on it and more black that is now acceptable for NASCAR, Poston said.

The crew uniform shirts are also red and black, with a red stripe going up the side and with slanted red stripes along the back.
 
None of uniforms nor the car has the red check that would make people think of Verizon. The red stripes are at angles but there are no markings in the shape of a check.
 
Penske Racing officials had said last month that even though Verizon’s logos could not be on the Cup car, that the No. 12 Cup car would not need primary sponsorship at least through 2010 because Verizon had assumed Alltel’s commitment.
 
When Nextel (now Sprint) signed its sponsorship deal with NASCAR to begin sponsoring the Cup series in 2004, any wireless sponsorships were grandfathered in as long as there was no rebranding and no change in the sponsor-team or sponsor-track alignment.
 
When AT&T bought Cingular, it sued NASCAR over whether it could change the Cingular logos to AT&T. NASCAR and AT&T settled out of court in September 2007 to allow the AT&T logos through 2008. The company now does not have a car in the sport.

Comments

24 responses to "David Stremme has Verizon colors but no Verizon logos on uniform or car". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Jozef Colomy said:
    Feb 6, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    Yes this is great. It's horrible of NASCAR to sit there and limit the teams' sponsorship opportunities because they need to line their own pockets with "Official _____ of NASCAR" and "Sprint Cup". I seem to forget, but wasn't this about racing? And if you keep eliminating potential sponsors how can people afford to run cars?

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  2. 2
    steve phillips said:
    Feb 6, 2009 at 10:13 PM

    Teams are having a hard enough time finding sponsors. Is Sprint afraid of a little competition?

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  3. 3
    Thomas Wells said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 7:03 AM

    This is pure communism. NASCAR should have no right to say who can sponsor what team.

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  4. 4
    Todd Priest said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    Because Sprint stinks. Doesn't matter. Stremme won't be running in front enough for any sponsor to get any worthwhile exposure.

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  5. 5
    Robert Osbourne said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 8:53 AM

    I will not trade with any company that tries to restrict competion...

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  6. 6
    Trouble in TURN 3 said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 10:20 AM

    Jozef is right!This Official____of Nascar garbage is getting out of hand.It certainly does nothing but line NASCAR's pockets. I believe in supporting my drivers' sponsors,but NASCAR's official whatever: no.
    Not a J.J. fan but I go to Lowe's because it's right up the street.Can't think of these problems when Winston was the sponsor. By the way Dale Earnhardt was a 7-time WINSTON Cup champion not Sprint cup or Nextel or whatever.GET OVER IT SPRINT!

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  7. 7
    Mr said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 1:33 PM

    I agree, sprint is just made cuz they know verizon is better! Pretty sad, nascar should be more smart about it, sponsership is hard to come by, they should help out teams rather than punish

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  8. 8
    Rod said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 2:16 PM

    You're all kidding, right? Would you like it if you paid the mortgage, but the government said you had to allow someone else to live in the house with you? This isn't about competition - it's about protecting a sponsor's investment.

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  9. 9
    Pepper said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 3:42 PM

    Rod is right! Sprint paid a pretty penny to be the exclusive sponsor of CUP racing. Most of you probably aren't old enough to remember when Winston was the sponsor and not only was no other cigarette brand allowed to advertise; they weren't even allowed to set up displays around the tracks.

    If you want to get testy about something it should be with NASCAR for procurring sponsors to be your "Official _____ of NASCAR." THESE are the sponsors that could be on cars.

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  10. 10
    Richard said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 3:44 PM

    Way to go Penske! Talk about one-upping NASCAR. I support Verizon 100%

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  11. 11
    Bob said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 3:56 PM

    Nextel paid for the right to be "Title" sponsor, just as winston did. Sprint inherited it when they bought nextel. That should not give them the right to tell a "private contractor", the team owners, who can sponsor their cars. When sprint or nascar starts financing the teams, then they can tell them who can be a sponsor, until then, i believe they are out of line!

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  12. 12
    Sheila said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM

    Wasn't it Nextel that won the Sponsorship for ten years? And wasn't it Sprint that bought Nextel after only a couple of years? Something sure isn't right. Winston didn't need exclusive rights. But that's why they had so much trouble replacing Busch in that Series. Nationwide took over because there was only one other Insurance company in the series. If Subway took over, they'd have to get rid of too many Sponsors.

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  13. 13
    Darrel said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    no signs on a verison car, kind of like the signal on my crappy verison cell phone

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  14. 14
    Daniel said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 4:27 PM

    Bring back Winston! At least they let other tobacco companies play. #9 you are way off base. I remember Camel, Skoal Bandits, Kodiak, Red Man and, I might be wrong on this, it seems like Marlboro was out there also. If Winston had been chumps like Sprint/Nextel there would have been no other tobacco companies out there, period. I will never get Sprint service because they are chumps.

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  15. 15
    Anthony said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 5:05 PM

    Daniel..
    Camel was a Winston Brand thats why they were allowed. Skoal Bandits, Red Man and Kodiak were smokeless, thats why Winston allowed them.

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  16. 16
    Pete said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 5:28 PM

    I really have trouble believing some of the comments here. Nextel negotiated a contract and the contract said no new cell phone companies. They paid millions of dollars for that agreement. Sprint bought Nextel, agreed to continue the contract. Did I mention paying millions? The contract with Sprint says no new cell phone companies. Verizon was not a sponsor prior to the Sprint contract. Verizon does not get a grandfather waiver. That's pretty simple and the suggestion that refusing to allow Verizon's logo on a Sprint Cup car is communism suggest a complete lack of understanding of the term. This is good old American capitalism. Sprint bought it and it's theirs until the contract runs out. Verizon and ATT before them knew what the rules were and there was never really a question about it. Don't cry for those companies. They get more publicity at less cost out of the "controversy". Good for them. Every little color change and stripe is a promotional advantage, accepted or rejected. It's a gold mine, baby! More good old American capitalism. That's a fair and legal way to get and keep their company in the public eye and on the top of people's minds. Think they could or would but all the mentions they're going to get as a result of the controversy? Nope, me either. Not only that, but they take care of Penske. Frankly, I find Verizon's cell coverage unnaceptable for my business use, but I like the integrity shown and the marketing savvy to turn a potential loss into a big marketing gain. Pretty smart move.

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  17. 17
    Daniel said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 6:30 PM

    #15 Anthony, I realize what you are saying. But, my point was that the other tobacco companies were competitors of Winston, except for Camel. I used to use all of those other tobacco products and when I used them it cut down on my cigarette use. So, I can't see how Winston would not have known that they were letting competitors sponsor cars. I still stand by what I said, Sprint is a chump company.

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  18. 18
    Bernadette said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 6:31 PM

    This is like the Cingular and AT&T situation with Burton. What a bunch of prima donnas.

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  19. 19
    clinton said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 7:04 PM

    Here in Las Vegas we have all three, verison, Sprint, and at&t, I have at&t I'm very happy. My Daughter has Verison and she cusses enough to go to H---L three times a week, but she's under contract, I had Sprint at first but I think that I would have been better off with smoke Signals.

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  20. 20
    Werner said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 7:23 PM

    there goes the principle of market competition...i commend Verizon for honoring Alltel's contract...

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  21. 21
    Bill said:
    Feb 7, 2009 at 7:57 PM

    This is just another insight into the real way NASCAR opperates today and going forward. They've been crying about losing sponsorship, lagging ticket sales, and hotel rooms being to costly. Imagine, it's been written they've asked hotel owners near tracks to lower room rates. Than NASCAR's contribution is to throw out AT&T and now Verizon, two worldwide companies with the resources and desire to be full time sponsors. Not an indication of a bright future for our sport.

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  22. 22
    Debi said:
    Feb 8, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    While NASCAR and Sprint may have inked the deal - in today's economy, unless Sprint is willing to pick up a car or two, it hardly seems fair.
    There are teams out there scrambling to get sponsorship to run cars full-time.
    Blessed are those who have year round sponsorship!
    Why should fans suffer? Why are team owners scrambling to find sponsorships? Because NASCAR is it's own god - to whom all should bow! I think not!

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  23. 23
    dave said:
    Feb 8, 2009 at 6:35 PM

    Can you hear me now??????

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  24. 24
    Rod Tidwell said:
    Feb 11, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    Wow...some of you still don't get it. This is the way the sport works. If you kick Sprint out, the next series sponsor will want the same category exclusivity and you will run into the same issues down the road (that's IF someone wants to pay the big bucks for the sponsorship). Debi - Sprint can't be series sponsor AND fund individual cars as that could be viewed as showing favoritism. Besides, you can bet each team is getting a cut of all the money Sprint puts into the sponsorship. Daniel - Sprint would be a chump only if they let competitors infringe on the sponsorship that they pay for...this is how business works!

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