Moments after the agreement was reached, Burton's crew went to work placing the AT&T logos on his No. 31 Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway.

"This solution that we've arrived at gives us a clear path for the next 16 months," said Dave Garver, executive director of business development and wireless sponsorships for AT&T.

"The way things were going was not good for NASCAR, not good for Jeff or the RCR team and not good for us. We really needed to come to some conclusion and ensure our brand."

The agreement ends months of legal wrangling between AT&T, NASCAR and Sprint Nextel, sponsor of NASCAR's top series.

AT&T sued NASCAR over its refusal to allow it to replace Cingular as the primary sponsor of the Richard Childress Racing car after the telecommunications companies merged. NASCAR prohibited the name change because of its exclusivity agreement with series sponsor Sprint Nextel.

NASCAR had said only Cingular and Alltel, two companies involved in the sport before the Sprint Nextel deal, could compete. AT&T believed its 2006 merger with Cingular allowed the company to participate and didn't want to use the Cingular logos because it's phasing out the name.

A federal judge granted an injunction in May allowing the AT&T logos to be placed on the car, but an appeals court overturned that injunction last month. Burton raced the past two events without logos on his car.

Dean Kessel, director of Sprint Nextel's marketing, said the agreement was in the best interest of all parties and protected the integrity of the Cup Series sponsorship.

"We are giving RCR and Jeff Burton an appropriate amount of time to transition to a new sponsor while remaining focused on winning the championship," he said. "That is the best solution for RCR, NASCAR, Sprint and racing fans."

Garver said at the end of 2008, AT&T must leave the Cup Series. He said the telecommunications company could stay in the sport in a lower series.