Daytona Beach, Fla. ? NASCAR’s top series is changing its name for the second time in five years, switching from Nextel Cup to the Sprint Cup starting in 2008.

It’s only the third name change in NASCAR’s 60 years, but had been expected since Nextel merged with Sprint in August 2005. NASCAR allowed Nextel one name change in the 10-year contract it signed with the telecommunications giant before the 2004 season.

While admitting name changes are not ideal, NASCAR chairman Brian France has maintained its premier series needed to be in line with the Sprint brand since that’s what the company is now called.

“We need to be with their main brand,” France said Saturday as the new Sprint Cup logo was unveiled. “We’re hopeful this is the brand they stick with for a long, long time. I would be surprised if it wasn’t.”

NASCAR’s top series was called Grand National Series at its inception, and was called the Winston Cup Series when tobacco company R.J. Reynolds sponsored it from 1971 to 2003.