A lawsuit filed earlier this month "could play a role in determining" the '18 Daytona 500 field as a court "determines who owns the charter that Front Row Motorsports bought from BK Racing" for $2M prior to the '17 NASCAR season, according to Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com. Union Bank & Trust in Virginia "filed a lawsuit Nov. 17 in North Carolina Superior Court, asking for the court to declare it has rights to what was originally BK Racing's No. 83 car charter, alleging that BK Racing owes it" $9.1M on a loan that included its two charters as collateral. After FRM bought the No. 83 charter, it "leased the charter" to TriStar Motorsports for the '17 season. Teams "can lease a charter for only one year, so the charter would be the property of Front Row unless the court intervenes." Because drivers of the 36 charter teams automatically qualify for a race, the season-opening Daytona 500 "could be the first race affected." A charter team owner is "guaranteed a base amount of money for participation throughout the season as well as an amount of money based on that car's performance the previous three years." In addition to its asking the court to determine who owns the No. 83 charter, the bank also states that it has the "right to sell the one charter used" in '17 by BK Racing to "field the No. 23 car" that finished 35th in the owner standings. BK Racing Owner Ron Devine is claiming that the bank "doesn't have rights to the No. 83 charter because the number on the NASCAR agreement (No. 33 of the 36 charters issued) was not used in the loan and public financial statements." The collateral "listed the charter with the car number (83) used by Devine" (ESPN.com, 11/27).
