Sarah Fisher Racing Wins Judgment for $2.2 million

A Marion County (Indiana) Superior Court has ordered three defendants to pay Sarah Fisher Racing a total of $2,226,363.31 in connection with Fisher's sponsorship at the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

The judgment against Gravity Entertainment, Inc., Steven F. Gagnon and Anthony Venturosso does not guarantee collection, however, and to date there is no record of Sarah Fisher Racing being paid anything as a result of the order. The court order, entered by judge Thomas J. Carroll on March 4, 2009, is a "default judgment." Default judgments are issued when one side of the lawsuit fails to show up or make make any defense.

The five-page ruling, posted on this blog, was confirmed by a record search of the Marian County Superior Court. Sarah Fisher Racing spokesman Klint Briney said Monday he could not comment on the case.

It's the latest public event in the story that dates back to April 2008, when Sarah Fisher announced she would enter the Indy 500 under sponsorship by RESQ energy drink.

As May progressed, the deal fell apart, endangering Fisher's entry into the race and enraging her fans who bombarded RESQ with complaints. Other sponsors, including text4cars.com and Hartman Oil, stepped forward and fans themselves donated an estimated $50,000 to help Fisher offset the sponsorship loss and run in the 2008 race.

According to court documents, Sarah Fisher Racing never really had a deal with RESQ, but rather a group that claimed to represent RESQ. On April 3, 2008 Sarah Fisher Racing signed a contract with Gravity Entertainment that also legally impacted Steven F. Gagnon and Anthony Venturoso wherein Gravity agreed to pay Fisher $850,000 in sponsorship no later than April 25, 2008.

When the money didn't show up, Fisher's attorneys sent a letter to the defendants on May 16 notifying them of their intent to terminate the contract and proceed with legal remedies.

"After receiving the termination letter, defendants made repeated promises to SFR (Sarah Fisher Racing) both orally and in writing, that payments had been wired to SFR in satisfaction of Defendants' obligations pursuant to the contract," according to the court's ruling. 

Those promises proved to be false, and as the case progressed, the defendants' attorneys withdrew, the defendants failed to file an answer to Fisher's original accusation and then failed to show up at all. Finally, after finding "the defendants have wholly failed to defend against the complaint filed by SFR," the court issued the default judgment.

In August 2008, RESQ issued a statement saying it never had a licensing deal with Gravity Motorsports that would allow it to enter into a sponsorship with Sarah Fisher Racing:

The licensing agreement between RESQ and "Gravity Motorsports" was neither completed nor signed, since RESQ's management was skeptical about the authenticity of documents provided by "Gravity Entertainment Inc." and their affiliated company "Sails Capital Management Sàrl" (a Luxembourg registered entity).

Hence, both companies, "Gravity Entertainment Inc." (et al.) and "Sails Capital Management Sàrl" failed RESQ's due diligence investigations and negotiations with these companies were ended. All above mentioned companies, including the brokerage company TGFJ, LLC were served with cease and desist orders.

With the unfortunate exception of rather bad unjustified publicity and threats against people, RESQ has not gained anything and also did not earn any money whatsoever. Again, if there was a contract between entities in place, it could have only been an agreement between “Sarah Fisher Racing” and “Gravity Motorsports” -- definitely not with RESQ.

The defendants now owe Sarah Fisher Racing $1.1 million from the contract, more than $26,000 in fees for Fisher's attorneys, and another $1.1 million "in damages for fraud."

Comments

[Doug]

Sadly, I'll be surprised if SFR sees a dime from these schmucks. :(

[Roy Hobbson]

I come here to escape the monotony of law ... not for a refresher course in contract law!!!! No clown music? No hyperbole? Bollocks to this.

FIX THIS TRIPE AT ONCE!!!

[Mike Clark]

With the judgment leaning in her favor, Sarah Fisher Racing can now bring back its full focus onto racing. And even though Sarah Fisher has retired from the sport, she can still fully manage her team.