Nextel Cup champion????? HUH>?

[cartcanuck]

Ok I was watching Speed news on Sunday night and they called Tony Stewart a "Nextel Cup Champion". Um, what the...????? When he won it, it wasn't the Nextel Cup, it was the Winston Cup. More specifically , he's the NASCAR champion.

This makes me wonder what kind of legalities are in these title sponsorship contracts. Maybe Winston said that NASCAR could not use their name at all, even in past tense. OR maybe Nextel said the same thing...no mention of Winston at all. Either way, this seems strange. Does that make Richard Petty a 7 time Nextel Cup Champion? Is Dale Earnhardt a Nextel Cup champion? or Jeff Gordon?

This just seemed really strange to me, but I guess thats' what happens when the sponsor becomes the brand of racing (i.e. Winston Cup versus NASCAR champion).

[pchall]

Even as I type this, all "Pure" signage in NASCAR archival material is being digitally altered to read "Sunoco"...


;)

[WickerBill]

Indy proclaims Michael Andretti as a "national IndyCar champion", even though IndyCar doesn't mean what it meant when he actually won.

[JT265]

Yeah Boss, but that's only cause their censors will "X" out dickwad.

:D

[Accipiter]

They always apply these things retroactively. For example, Richard Petty has been refered to as 7-time Winston Cup Champion even though three of his championships happened before the Winston era. He'll join Tony as a Nextel Cup Champion now too.