Jeff Burton will not be on the market any time soon, even if the NASCAR/AT&T legal wrangling doesn’t fall AT&T’s way, car owner Richard Childress said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. Burton signed a contract to drive for Richard Childress Racing in June, with AT&T signing on as sponsor. But that was before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an injunction that had allowed AT&T logos on the #31 Chevy in place of Cingular signage. “We’ve got contracts with AT&T and Jeff Burton,” Childress said. That means Burton isn’t going anywhere, Childress indicated. Childress did not want to comment on the NASCAR/AT&T situation “because it’s still in the legal system,” he said. “We hope we can come to some kind of agreement we can all live with,” Childress said. Should there be further trouble for AT&T, it could affect RCR’s plans for a fourth team in 2008, though Childress was confident the fourth team would go on as planned. “It’s something we’ll probably have to take a harder look at,” Childress said. “But we feel that team’s pretty safe.” Childress confirmed his team had talked to representatives of J.J. Yeley, the driver who recently announced he would not return to Joe Gibbs Racing next year, about the possibility of driving for RCR. “We’ve spoken to Yeley’s people,” Childress said. “He’s someone that we definitely would very highly consider.”(SceneDaily.com)(8-18-2007)
