Sunday, September 07, 2008
Robby Gordon says he’s preparing a legal response to that Evernham-Gillett lawsuit
By Mike Mulhern
RICHMOND, Va.
Robby Gordon says he still wants to merge with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, despite a suit just filed against him by the fellow Dodge team.
Gordon, who has been using engines supplied by Gillett-Evernham this season, says he expects to have a legal response in the next few days to the lawsuit filed against him by the Ray Evernham-George Gillett operation that claims a breach of contract on a proposed sale of Gordon’s NASCAR operation to Evernham-Gillett.
But already there are rumblings in the NASCAR garage over what might be the real story behind the suit: whether Evernham and Gillett simply don’t really want to do that deal with Gordon any more, perhaps because they have a better proposal, or for some other reason.
One key part of the entire situation is Gillett’s long-held plan to move his team from its relatively isolated Statesville airport location down much closer to Charlotte-Concord heart of the sport.
Evernham and Gillett themselves haven’t been here to explain the situation from their viewpoint, but Gordon says he still wants to do the deal with them. One key to the proposed $20 million deal apparently is a sale of Gordon’s shop and real estate – some prime racing real estate – to Evernham and Gillett.
Now though there is increasing speculation that Chip Ganassi—a Dodge team owner like Evernham, Gillett and Gordon – might also be a potential merger partner with Evernham and Gillett. And Ganassi has prime real estate too, right next to Concord airport. Ganassi was not here over the week to address the situation.
“Unfortunately I guess you’ll have to learn more about all that in our answers to their complaint,” Gordon said. “But we have a deal with them, we have a contract that is still in effect.
“What they have asked – I wouldn’t say it’s so much against Robby Gordon, but they have asked for release from the contract. But we’ve already done so many things together that I don’t know if that’s possible.”
Might Evernham and Gillett want to drop the Gordon deal so they can do a deal with someone else? “Maybe that’s what the case is, but I’m not privy to that information, so I don’t know,” Gordon said.
“We’ve been doing engines, the Motorola sponsorship went to their Busch operation at the beginning of the year….there are a lot of things that have taken place.
“We have 30 days to answer that complaint, and I think we can have it in by the end of next week.”
Agree? Disagree? Don’t just brood. Express yourself here, and make your voice heard clearly in NASCAR headquarters in Daytona and Charlotte and in NASCAR race shops throughout North Carolina and the rest of the country.
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