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Hendrick Motorsports, perhaps the most recognizable and undeniably the most successful team in NASCAR history, is suing Hooters over claims that the restaurant chain didn’t pay nearly $2M in sponsorship money.
This comes after it Hendrick terminated its agreement with Hooters to sponsor the series’ most popular driver, Chase Elliott. Hooters had sponsored Elliott on a part-time basis since 2017, including serving as the primary sponsor on the 2020 series champion’s car 24 times in that span.
It also has a lengthy history in the sport dating back to the early 1990s with NASCAR Hall of Famer championship-winning driver Alan Kulwicki.
“The complaint states that Hooters was obligated under the sponsorship deal to pay Hendrick Motorsports four installments annually totaling $1.75 million,” Collin Hugley of the Charlotte Business Journal reports. “The 2024 payments of $437,500 each were due on March 10, June 10, Aug. 10 and Oct. 10, court records state. The NASCAR team operator alleges Hooters made a partial, $45,000 payment in March before failing to make the June payment.”
Not only has Hooters allegedly fail to pay its previous installments, Hendrick also alleges that it refuses to pay any future installments as well.
“Further, Hooters has represented to HMS that it will not be paying any portion of the remaining two installments for the 2024 term under the Sponsorship Agreement, as amended, that are due on August 10, 2024 and October 10, 2024,” Hugley reports that the complaint, filed by a representative of Hendricks, claims. “Left with no further options to protect its rights and interests, HMS files this action to enforce its rights pursuant to the contract at issue.”
The alleged failed payments come at a time when Hooters is closing stores nationwide. Today reports that 41 restaurant locations closed between mid-January and the end of June.
NAPA Auto Parts serves as Elliott’s primary sponsor. While Coca-Cola recently replaced Hooters on the car at Richmond Raceway.