Wheels & Deals: Sadler's Lawyer Says GEM Tried To Buy Out Driver
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Sadler Reportedly Signed Contract With
GEM Through The 2010 Sprint Cup Season |
NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler's attorney John Buric said that his client intends to file a breach of contract suit against Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) because Sadler’s contract “doesn't expire until the end of 2010.” Buric: "We got a phone call that says basically they want to buy him out of his contract. We said we don't want to be bought out." Buric said that he "expects a resolution before" the February 7 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona Int'l Speedway. Buric added that Sadler "has done nothing to warrant being released from his contract, which was extended for two years" in May. Buric: "If you look at the contract and the terms, there's nothing anybody could raise on the other side that says you've done a, b, c or d and therefore you're terminated. They have not put us on notice for any violations or anything." Meanwhile, Buric said that Sadler has "shot all of his sponsorship ads for 2009 except one." Buric: "It puts (Sadler) in a really difficult position with sponsors" (ESPN.com, 1/5).
DETHRONING THE KING: FOXSPORTS.com's Darrell Waltrip wrote Boston Ventures, when it purchased a controlling interest of Petty Enterprises in June, "really wanted to gain control" of the Richard Petty Driving Experience (RPDE). Waltrip noted RPDE was a "cash cow" for Petty Chair Emeritus Richard Petty, and that was "what held up the deal with Boston Ventures because Richard didn't want to give up control of the driving school." Waltrip wrote the investment companies getting involved with NASCAR "aren't racers and they don't truly understand our sport and what it takes to run a race team." Meanwhile, Waltrip noted if you are a "mediocre team and don't have a lot of good sponsors then you are going to find yourself in the midst of a financial crisis." When the "sponsor goes, so goes the team" (FOXSPORTS.com, 1/6).
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Baldwin Plans To Field One-Car
Sprint Cup Series Team In '09 |
A NEW CAR: Former Bill Davis Racing Competition Dir Tommy Baldwin yesterday announced that he will field a one-car Sprint Cup team this season as part of Tommy Baldwin Racing. ESPN.com's David Newton reported Baldwin "plans to have everything in place to compete full time," beginning with the Daytona 500 on February 15. Baldwin has not named a sponsor for his entry, but he will receive his engines from Arrington Manufacturing, which "works closely with Toyota" (ESPN.com, 1/6).
ENGINE REPAIR: SPEED TV's Tom Jensen wrote the only way small NASCAR teams will be "able to compete with big ones is by Draconian cost-cutting measures to put everyone on the same playing field," and NASCAR needs to take "radical steps and basically undo almost everything [it's] done in the past 20 years." Jensen suggested NASCAR could limit team size; shorten the Sprint Cup Series season; reduce the number of cars a team is allowed to field; reduce the "number of crewmembers at the track;" and eliminate the Chase for the Sprint Cup (SPEEDTV.com, 1/5).
NEED A LIFT? NASCAR SCENE's Jared Turner wrote there is "no simple fix to the waning participation haunting" the Camping World Truck Series, as you can "count the number of Truck drivers with confirmed full-time rides on two hands." The number of drivers with a "confirmed full-time primary sponsor is even fewer" (SCENEDAILY.com, 1/6).
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