Evernham Sues Gillett For $19.2M

And just when you thought all of this George Gillett-foray into NASCAR-stuff would roll up into a pile and float across Turn 3 or something...

Nah...

Ray Evernham is suing two Gillett companies saying he's owed the money. Evernham claims he was promised a repayment of his investment plus a 5-percent annual return after GEM ((Gillett Evernham Motorsports)) was sold and, eventually, morphed into Richard Petty Motorsports- which barely made it through the 2010 NASCAR season. Petty then bought out Gillett.

Got all that...???

And it's the Petty buyout of Gillett that Evernham is pointing at for the return of his investment...

"We have diligently worked to resolve this matter in good faith without resorting to legal action," Evernham said in a statement. "This matter has been pending for a period of time and we did not want to disrupt any excitement of the beginning of the race season with this unfortunate situation. We were unable to come to a fair resolution for the amounts due to me related to my sale of the previous RPM race team. Like many other vendors and creditors, my claims have been left unpaid. I am optimistic that the judicial system will deliver a fair resolution for my outstanding claims, and hope that the other people and companies who are owed money by them are fully compensated and made whole."

Here's the high point of Petty Motorsports, the Kasey Kahne win at Sonoma in 2009
((HT: NASCAR/TNT/BumpsNotes))


And a low point, Kahne's wreck at Pocono last year...
((HT: NASCAR/TNT/youtube))

Petty Enterprises Merges With GEM

It's official... after 60 years of being one of the giants in motorsports, Petty Enterprises is merging with Gillette Evernham Motorsports. The King is pictured ((thanks, Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images))

Following Lee Spencer of Foxsports, the papers were signed on Christmas Eve. An official announcement is due sometime next week.

From Spencer's piece...

"Most of the remaining 39 employees at Petty Enterprises will conclude their duties at the Mooresville-based shop on Wednesday. The company moved from its original shop adjacent to the Petty homestead in Level Cross, N.C., in January to what was formerly the Yates Racing complex."

The number 43 car, driven the last few seasons by Bobby Labonte, now becomes property of GEM with, likely, Reed Sorenson behind the wheel and the Air Force as the primary sponsor.

As an homage to the King, we give you the end of the race that catapulted stock car racing into the American consciousness- the end of the 1976 Daytona 500.
Bill Fleming and Jackie Stewart have the call...
((HT: ABC Sports/the youtube))

Allmendinger To Gillette Evernham...?

Multiple sources are telling Marty Smith at the four-letter that AJ Allmendinger ((pictured, thanks nascar.com)) will be replacing Elliott Sadler behind the wheel of the #19 Dodge Charger next season.

Allmendinger was released from his ride over at team Red Bull and had auditioned in late 2008 with a few other cars.

It seems some sponsors attached to the Sadler car are none too pleased with the seat swap and considered bailing, but that is not confirmed as of yet. Apparently, GEM Chief Operating Officer Tom Reddin was a master of good timing here- telling everyone of the move right before the Christmas holiday.

Sources also tell Smith that Ray Evernham, who founded the team and sold majority ownership to George Gillett, cleared out all personal possessions from the team's shop, including the 2002 Brickyard 400 trophy he won as owner of Bill Elliott's No. 9Dodge.

You'll remember that GEM also has scaled back its Nationwide series operation and released 65 employees after the 2008 season wrapped up.

The GEM line-up for 2009 is now Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, and Allmendinger.