Unhappy Sadler Readies Contract Breach Suit

I bet this isn't what A.J. Allmendinger signed up for with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports contacted him about driving for the Sprint Cup team in 2009.

Allmendinger, along with GEM, majority owner George Gillett and Ray Evernham Enterprises were named earlier this week in Iredell County (N.C.) as defendents by an attorney representing Elliott Sadler in a possible suit alleging breach of contract, according to David Poole of The Charlotte Observer.

Sadler, as we were surprised about earlier in the week, appears to be on the outs from GEM's No. 19 Dodge in favor of Allmendinger in 2009 -- despite signing a contract extension this past spring with the team through 2010.

Poole noted in the article that "Sadler plans to seek injunctive relief, declaratory relief/specific performance, consequential and punitive damages as a resultof Defendants anticipatory and actual breach of Plantiff's Driving Services Agreement [...]."

All of the legal lingo could more appropriately described as Sadler being extremely irritated and desiring to grab all of the money from GEM he can because of the loss of external revenue (personal contracts, etc.) he stands to lose by not driving in the Sprint Cup Series full time in 2009.

I'd say Sadler stands a pretty good chance to settle for a vast amount of money because there's absolutely no reason for anyone to believe he wasn't able fulfill the his end of the contract. Additionally, it shows just how ridiculous the world of NASCAR contracts have gotten.

In other words, a contract that a driver has with a team should be a guarantee, but instead, it's just a worthless piece of paper in terms of jobs but a very valuable one for a driver who gets canned from his ride because it serves as a method of retribution.

Regardless, the Allmendinger for Sadler move seems complete, and I'm still quite surprised.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-04-2009 @ 12:11AM

Stewart Fan said...

I hope that Kasey and the other Gillett employees realize their contracts are worthless.

How can Gillett buy Petty when he is having financial problems?

Maybe George Gillett has followed Bobby Ginn into Nascar's Hall of Shame. Contracts should be honored. Could it be that Gillette was looking at AJ and Reed because they were lower costs as well? I think Gillett is in big financial trouble.

1-04-2009 @ 9:12AM

Charlie said...

Fan I hope your correct about gillette being in finicial trouble,
If nascar doesn't lower the ticket prices so average working class people can afford, it will be more of this drivers getting the boot because of sponsors pulling out because of the economy again ticket prices.

1-04-2009 @ 8:54AM

samgirl said...

Did Gillett really think Sadler was going to go quietly? He has done nothing to negate the contract so I hope Gillett gets taken to the cleaners and has to pay Elliott every cent. His treatment of past drivers such as Scott Riggs and Patrick Carpentier should make other drivers think twice about signing with GEM! Go get 'em Elliott!!!

1-04-2009 @ 11:07AM

Bob said...

I think they should keep Sadler. He is a better driver than Reed ever thought of being. If Gillett did this to Sadler, the other drivers better be ready to hit the road too.

1-04-2009 @ 3:06PM

Dave said...

NASCAR is in big trouble! In comes the yankee connection and farther out goes NASCAR from it's roots. The result is not unexpected. That Boston group is all about money. Well, I guess everybody is, and there goes another good sport. Forget the technology, the corporate research, sponsorships and all that big stuff. Give me the good ole boys and let them put together a car and let them run as fast as they want and then the sport will be worth watching again. NASCAR should have stuck to it's footprint and not been so greedy. Well, so should a few other organizations!!

1-05-2009 @ 3:47PM

grayson said...

I GUESS THE GRASS IS NOT GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE .HE SHOULD OF STAYED WITH YATES THEY ARE HONEST PEOPLE .HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED.

1-05-2009 @ 7:08PM

CJ said...

Oh, yea, grayson, since Yates is competiting for championships and winning races all the time, right? (Hint:That's sarcasm!) I dont blame Sadler leaving Yates especially since Yates has went to hell! They have lousy drivers, they gave everything away to Roush, they cant get sponsors and the one they do have, they had to hire the sponsor's son to drive, so Sadler is on hard times now, his problem is aligning himself with the wrong team after leaving Yates, and leaving Yates was a smart move and i would've done the same thing. To say Sadler should've stayed with Yates is absurd.

1-06-2009 @ 7:00PM

jy said...

you are exactly right cj

1-07-2009 @ 12:42PM

macd said...

hey cj and jy, going to gem was an upgrade from yates?? I don't know what nascar you were watching last year with their top guy finishing 14th overall...sadler should've stayed with yates. yates, for the most part is REALLY part of roush racing, THE top organization in all of nascar. they've got the best engines, drivers and money. johnson is good, but VERY,VERY lucky....

1-07-2009 @ 9:07PM

Hey, mac, how many races did Yates win last year? How bout the year before that? When was the last time they won a race? How bout fall of 2005 with Dale Jarrett! I said, i wasnt happy that Sadler went to GEM, i think he had better options and i didnt think it was an upgrade, but apparently u cant read but one sentence a day apparently!
And another thing, Yates IS NOT Roush! Roush organization is winning races and making the Chase, and done it by stealing Yates engine program and screwing Yates into thinking he was going to share his chassis program which hasnt helped Yates one bit. Gilliland, Kvapil, and Menard are all jokes as race car drivers and that's why sponsors DO NOT want to jump on board with them, and all the sponsors they got this year, Roush gave to them, including the one he stole from them in Citifinancial and in the end got UPS who again use to be with Yates. I blame Roush for most of it, but the Yates family are a bunch of idiots for getting con by him. Sadler would be better without Evernham, but he's also just as better off without Yates! Learn to read, macass!