While teams prepare for the new year ahead, Panther Racing has a dispute to settle over a sponsorship deal. Panther Racing has filed a lawsuit against Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, IndyCar and other parties with regards to the National Guard sponsorship. Panther has stated that they lost the $17.2 million sponsorship with the Army National Guard because of bid-rigging and other improprieties.
The lawsuit was filed on February 19th in Marion County Court in Indianapolis following a ruling by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Panther made an appeal to the GAO about the National Guard sponsorship, however it was denied.
Panther Racing has since released a statement since news of the lawsuit has broke.
“Panther Racing is a proud member of the IndyCar series and looks forward to a successful 2014 season,” Panther Racing released in a statement. “As a company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation. However, as we have for more than 15 years, Panther Racing is committed to always acting with integrity and conducting business in an ethical and legal manner. Our singular focus remains on fielding a strong IndyCar race team on the track and being a responsible corporate citizen off of it. We remain active members of the Indianapolis community and will continue to support U.S. servicemen and women through our work with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, Fisher House and the USO, among others.”
The National Guard has been with Panther Racing since 2008, seeing drivers like J.R. Hildebrand and Ryan Briscoe behind the wheel. For 2014, the plan is to go the full schedule with Graham Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
The lawsuit, which seeks for an amount pertaining to economic and punitive damages, accuses IndyCar of breach of contract with regards to which team had exclusive rights to provide Fan Village access rights and benefits to the Army National Guard. Panther Racing was supposed to have this right, however IndyCar CEO Mark Miles wrote a letter last November saying Rahal had the right to provide that access. Panther Racing states that IndyCar is liable for all economic damages to Panther as a result of the breach. The lawsuit also states that RLL was aware of the contract and falsely claimed ownership of the contractual right.
Document Packaging Brokers, known as Docupak, is named in the lawsuit as well. Panther Racing says they performed services to administer the National Guard sponsorship agreements, and someone in the National Guard contracting office of conspiring with Rahal racing to influence the bid process.
RLL has released a statement since the release of this information, stating that Panther Racing is only suing due to being unhappy with losing the sponsorship. RLL also stated that the new agreement will save the government and tax payers almost $5 million dollars per year with the smaller budget.
“The facts and issues Panther raises in the lawsuit are many of the same it raised before the GAO, which issued a 9-page decision noting that RLL was rated higher than Panther in three out of four categories,” RLL states. “The GAO also noted that there was no evidence supporting many of Panther’s allegations, and that the National Guard’s decision probably was driven by the basic fact that Panther’s base per year price was approximately $5 million more than RLL’s base price.
“RLL believes it is unfortunate and disappointing that Panther has filed a lawsuit making serious allegations against the National Guard’s decision process. RLL also believes that Panther’s lawsuit has no merit as a matter of fact and law. RLL’s lawyers will vigorously defend RLL so it can focus on what matters most — representing the courageous men and woman of the National Guard and winning races.”
