For Wilke: CART could have had a far different future

[dironstarr]

Another article for you to disect, I enjoy reading your analysis:

One of the world’s greatest open-wheel series could have had a far different future

Most interesting is the 2nd half of the article. I thought the lawsuit with Joe was resovled?

[CARTer]

Also going on behind the scenes was Team Player’s owner Jerry Forsythe sitting on both the Franchise and Delaware Boards of CART while being sued by Honda and Swift in two different Federal Courts. According to Mayer, neither lawsuit was “revealed by CART to the Securities & Exchange Commission. It is not certain whether the Franchise Board or Delaware Board were aware of either or both litigations. Decisions affecting both Honda and Swift were being made by both the Franchise Board and Delaware Board when the litigation was taking place” and Forsythe was a Board member.

Hadn't heard that one before.

[trow]

this one's gonna hurt!

good read dironstarr!!!!!

[indycool]

Like to read it....can't get it through the link....can u post?

[Doc Austin]

Re: For Wilke: CART could have had a far different future

Ouch!!!

[IndyIRLman]

interesting read

[Jim Wilke]

Originally posted by CARTer
Hadn't heard that one before.

Mr. Carter, you're an attorney, aren't you? What's your take here? Doesn't Forsythe have a legal obligation to reveal these actions?

[Jim Wilke]

Re: For Wilke: CART could have had a far different future

Originally posted by dironstarr
Another article for you to disect, I enjoy reading your analysis:

One of the world’s greatest open-wheel series could have had a far different future

Most interesting is the 2nd half of the article. I thought the lawsuit with Joe was resovled?

There are multiple lawsuits involved. First, Joe is suing CART as a corporation for wrongful termination. Many believe he has a case; even though he's an idiot and a liar, if I understand his case, CART gave no grounds when they fired him, just showed him the door and stopped paying him immediately. There were strict guidelines in his contract as to how he could be terminated and under what grounds and they didn't follow the procedure correctly. Second, Joe is also suing Haas and Patrick as individuals, claiming that they actively campaigned against him and worked to get him removed as CEO and that they overstepped their bounds as corporate Directors.

In their latest SEC filing, CART said that one of the lawsuits pending against them had been settled. I don't believe it was Joe's because these actions appear to be still moving forward. I also don't think it was Judd's; the amount of the settlement didn't seem to be high enough. Reportedly, Judd has already turned down a multi-million dollar offer from CART and is expecting something close to $10 million. That would leave the della Penna and Wells suits. They are asking for a judgement from CART over CART's refusal to enforce the engine supply rules that used to be in place. Simply put, they claim that Honda was supposed to supply 7 cars and they only powering 5 cars. DP and Wells said they asked to lease Hondas, were told no and they asked CART to force them to do so. CART refused, not wishing to annoy Honda. For their part, Honda said that it would cost them a lot of money to supply extra cars, more than the lease would cover and that they didn't want to spend that money so these guys could run at the back. Besides, they didn't think DP and Wells had any money, anyway. DP and Wells countered that without competitive power, they couldn't attract sponsors and that CART, by not enforcing the rule, put them out of business. I'm no lawyer but my understanding is that the courts have not been thrilled about getting involved with suits involving sports authorities. The next thing would be Barry Bonds suing MLB because the umpire called strike 3 when it should have been a ball. The settlement appeared to be in the high 6 figure range and that would seem to be right to make DP and/or Wells go away. Not enough for Joe and way short of what Judd will get.