As if things could not get stranger this off-season, Penske Racing's No. 12 Dodge may have to forego any logo promoting the team's primary sponsor. When Verizon acquired Alltel on January 9, 2009, the communications company inherited a multi-year agreement with Penske Racing to sponsor the No. 12 Dodge.

While Alltel was grandfathered into a 2004 exclusivity ruling stating that no other communications provider except Nextel (now Sprint) can be represented in the Sprint Cup Series. It appears Verizon will be allowed to honor that multi-year deal, but may have to do so with no visible logos or name on the car they are funding.

"Well it's probably going to look a little different," driver David Stremme said of the situation. "Obviously, Verizon acquired Alltel and with that, they also acquired a multi-year agreement with the Penske organization. Our car is fully funded and we're looking forward to the NASCAR season. They also have a relationship with Penske on the IRL side too. Considering the existing rules that NASCAR has in place, Verizon was grandfathered in. There will be something on the car; we're just not sure what it's going to be yet. In these times, to have them excited about our NASCAR program and IRL program, we're really happy with that."

This is not the first time the 2004 ruling has come into play. When AT&T merged with Cingular, the communications provider also acquired the sponsorship of Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 Chevrolet driven by Jeff Burton. AT&T was given a timetable and was forced to leave the team at the end of the 2008 season.

Unlike that situation, it appears Verizon has not been told they must leave the team. While there is an issue on the Cup side of things, Verizon Wireless has also agreed to sponsor Rookie of the Year contender Justin Allgaier for Penske Racing in the Nationwide Series.

"It's a great feeling," Allgaier described. "Verizon Wireless has definitely stepped our program up. I think that if you look at the companies in the world out there to sponsor cars, I definitely have one of the best in the industry. We're glad to have them on board. It looks like right now we are going to have great equipment and will be competitive. I can't thank the guys in the shop enough. They've worked a lot of hours and stayed late a lot of nights. I think going into 2009 we have as competitive a car as ever and hopefully we can keep building on that and run even more competitively than we have in the past."

There is much yet to be determined as to how NASCAR, Sprint, Penske Racing and Verizon work out the details of this arrangement. Be sure to check back to HardcoreRaceFans.com for all of the latest news surrounding this situation.