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closeGEM suing, but Robby Gordon says he's breached nothing
JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
Friday, Sep. 05, 2008
Gillett Evernham Motorsports is suing Robby Gordon, claiming the owner/driver violated terms of an agreement that would have sold his team to GEM.
Gordon insisted he hasn't breached any contract and wants to proceed with the sale of Robby Gordon Motorsports to GEM.
"They want to fight this and get relief from the agreement, and we'll let a judge decide if they can get out of it," Gordon said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. "This caught me by surprise, and I don't feel I have breached anything."
Gordon agreed to the deal on Jan. 29 to sell his team at the end of this season for $23.5 million, the suit maintains. The deal would have given Gordon a four-year driving contract with GEM, and possibly a seat on the team's board of directors. GEM would have acquired Gordon's shop and property in Charlotte, the plaintiffs say.
And, according to the legal action, upon agreeing to the deal, Gordon promptly left Ford for Dodge and began an alliance with GEM that gave him technical, manufacturing and marketing help.
GEM says it had an exclusivity clause that prevented Gordon from talking to other teams about possible mergers. In May, Gordon asked out of the deal, according to the lawsuit, in exchange for an engine deal for the remainder of the season.
GEM claims in the suit filed Aug. 25 in North Carolina Superior Court that Gordon has talked to other teams about merging, and that Gordon made disparaging remarks that he wasn't getting comparable engines to the other GEM drivers during a television interview at Watkins Glen.