This seem familiar ?? (Gillett)

[Dougie Do'ins]

NASCAR Pileup: Ray Evernham Sues George Gillett, Jr.

 

By MONTE BURKE

 

The lawsuits against overleveraged sports team owner George Gillett, Jr., continue to mount. In late February, Ray Evernham, the 53 year-old former race car driver and NASCAR team owner, filed a civil lawsuit in a North Carolina court against Gillett. The suit asks for $19 million that Evernham says Gillett owes him for the latter’s heavily-leveraged 2007 purchase of his NASCAR team, Evernham Motorports. (Gillett merged the Evernham team two years later with Richard Petty Motorsports, which was sold last year at a bargain-basement price, as detailed in my recent story about Petty.)

The Evernham suit comes just a few months after a $117 million lawsuit was filed against Gillett over a loan connected to his investment in the English soccer team, Liverpool. That story was first reported by my Forbes colleague, Nathan Vardi.

 

The heart of the latest lawsuit, Evernham says, is that “Gillett agreed to buy my company for a certain amount and he never did. That’s what I’m trying to collect.” Evernham filed suit against the two Gillett investment companies that he believes are still solvent—Booth Creek Management and Gillett GEMS.

 

Gillett refused to comment for this story.

 

Evernham admits that his chances for recouping all of his money are slim, but he stands by his decision to file the suit. “It may be like throwing a bucket of water in the ocean, but at some point you have to stand up and say this stuff has to stop,” he says. “This is about responsibility. There’s something wrong with the system when people can be that leveraged and just walk away and not pay people back.”

 

Evernham and Gillett once had a good relationship, according to Evernham. When Gillett was originally brought in as a majority owner, “the plan was to grow Evernham Motorsports so we could compete with the likes of Rick Hendrick,” he says. But the relationship soon soured. “In reality, Gillett came in and didn’t put any money into the company and took on more debt and instead of having more money to work with I had less.”

 

Evernham has long been a mainstay in American auto racing. He started his career in 1984 as an IROC racer. Later he became the crew chief for NASCAR racer, Jeff Gordon. In 1999 he founded his own NASCAR team, Evernham Motorsports, which reintroduced GM’s Dodge to NASCAR racing. In 2007 Gillett bought majority interest in his team. Since the 2009 merger with Richard Petty Motorsports, Evernham has not had a direct race-day role with a NASCAR team. He now runs a consulting company that works with Hendrick Motorsports.

 

“I put my heart and soul into my team and built it from the ground up. And now it’s gone and done,” says Evernham. “It’s a shame that people can do that and just walk away. It’s a tough deal.”

 

NASCAR Pileup: Ray Evernham Sues George Gillett, Jr. - Monte Burke - The Owner’s Box - Forbes

[Walton Park]

Fucking pair of cunts they are.

 

I hope the pair of them are finished.

[WrongIslander]

Cunts, proper cunts.

[Scottish Steve]

Scum. Sub-human scum.

[RoboRiise]

Well I'd like to say that I take no pleasure whatsoever in this.

 

I can't say that, but I'd like to.

[mi2061]

It's going to be beautiful when both those cum guzzlers are flat broke. Hick$ lost Liverpool, the Texas Rangers, and is in the process of selling the Dallas Stars. I know Gillette also had to sell the Montreal Candians in the last year. People like this should be thrown in jail

[ternando_forres]

How is their effort of suing us going? Seems to have gone all quiet in the media about it.