RLR Files Lawsuit Against Scott Sharp

[DanicaRules]

This wednesday, Rahal Letterman Racing filed a lawsuit agains Scott Sharp and Patron Spirits in Circuit Court in Miami, Florida. Rahal stated that Sharp and Patron are in breach of contract with him and are both supposed to be racing with his team through 2008.

This is shocking. I wonder if Scott Sharp isnt trying to have his own racing team, drive for another team, or even move to a different series(which is least likely).:confused:

Be interesting to see what comes of this.

[EIR Loe.307]

I was going to ask if he left or was leaving. Is there any more info avail.?

[DanicaRules]

Not sure if he is leaving but it evidently sounds like that is his intentions. It was a suprise to me.

I guess that the week before this countersuit, Sharp filed a suit against RLR saying the team was unable to be competitive in his first season there.

[DanicaRules]

Well, here is an update to this latest story...

Scott Sharp is taking his Patron sponsorship to Highcroft Racing in the American Le Mans series for 2008.

Scott is out of his contract with RLR and will not be racing with the IRL next year. He will be teamig with David Brabham and replace Stefan Johansson on the Acura-powered P2 team owned by Duncan Dayton.
Not good news to me.:(

[DanicaRules]

Well, here is an update on the Scott Sharp/Rahal Letterman Racing suit. I normally dont just paste an article like this but with the nature of the topic like it is, its to difficult for me to put into words.:o;)

It appears Scott Sharp to be in some hot water over this.

MIAMI - Because Scott Sharp violated his obligation to race exclusively for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2008, Rahal Letterman Racing was vindicated today in its breach-of-contract allegations against Scott Sharp Sports, LLC pursuant to an order issued by United States District Court Judge Hon. Adalberto Jordan.

The 24-page ruling, which denied a preliminary injunction against Sharp that would have forced him to sit out the 2008 season, states that Sharp's claims against Rahal Letterman Racing concerning fraud, failure to provide testing, failure to perform research and development and the replacement of team members had no merit and that it was Sharp that will be found to have breached the contract.

Specifically, in the final conclusion of the seven-part ruling, Judge Jordan states: 'It seems to me that (Sharp) has knowingly breached one agreement in order to enter another. He may continue to race for Highcroft in the 2008 season, but this case shall go on, and he may pay for his choices in the end, quite literally, if a jury views the evidence as I do.' In addition, Judge Jordan stated that 'according to the evidence presented so far, Rahal Letterman (Racing) has not committed fraud or breach of contract. If anything, it is the Sharp defendants who have breached and abandoned their contractual commitments'.

Judge Jordan also analyzed the evidence as follows: 'The record demonstrates that Rahal Letterman (Racing) did everything basically right and worked with the Sharp defendants at all times in good faith...Therefore the Sharp defendants have no excuse for violating the restrictive covenant in the Driver Agreement. For these reasons, I conclude that Rahal Letterman (Racing) will likely succeed on the merits of its breach of contract claim against the Sharp defendants.'

"We are very encouraged with Judge Jordan's rulings and hope that the remainder of the legal proceedings go as indicated in today's statement," said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. "The fact that Rahal Letterman Racing was found to be in accordance with all of its contracts and are forthright in all its dealings is a reflection on the people at our shop and on our team that worked so hard to provide a competitive car and a competitive atmosphere during last season."

[KillerNut]

Scott Sharpe was my former favorite.

I was very disappointed in his decision. That is why I am searching for someone new to support. I was hopeful that RL was going to replace Scott with someone I could get behind, but it doesn't appear to be in the plans, or atleast will be last minute.

Just out of curiousity what happened to Scott Speed from F1?

[Driverdb]

Just out of curiousity what happened to Scott Speed from F1?

Speed is going the NASCAR route. He's racing in ARCA this season for Red Bull and Eddie Sharp Racing to gain experience.