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Bob PockrassNASCAR
Brennan Poole is suing his former team, Chip Ganassi Racing, and former agency Spire Sports and Entertainment on claims that they illegally conspired to move the DC Solar sponsorship from Poole in the Xfinity Series to Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Poole, according to the complaint filed last week in North Carolina Superior Court, brought the DC Solar sponsorship to Ganassi, which got $2.5 million for a 17-race Poole schedule in the Xfinity Series in 2015; $5.2 million for a full Xfinity season in 2016; and $5.5 million for another full Xfinity season in 2017.
Poole claims clauses in his Ganassi contract — primarily a two-year non-solicitation clause — prohibit the sponsorship remaining at Ganassi without Poole’s consent. The amount in damages he is seeking is not specified. He is not seeking an injunction to keep DC Solar from appearing on Larson’s Cup car, as it has this season.
Finishing eighth in the Xfinity Series standings in 2016 and sixth in 2017, Poole has eight top-5s in 83 career Xfinity starts. He earned a $225,000 base salary at Ganassi plus 50 percent of the purse for a first-place finish, 40 percent for a top-10 and 30 percent for a top-20. He has been without a ride in 2018.
Poole, who according to the lawsuit paid Spire $67,416 in base retainer and commissions from September 2014 through December 2017, alleges that misrepresentations by Spire thwarted potential deals. He claimed that Spire told him JR Motorsports wanted $7.5 million for an Xfinity ride in 2016 when the actual price was $3.2 million.
He also alleges that Spire misrepresented to DC Solar that if it wanted to sponsor a Cup car at Richard Childress Racing in 2018, it would cost $15 million. RCR actually wanted $10 million, according to the Poole complaint, and would arrange business deals for DC Solar worth $6 million profit. DC Solar only offered $8 million to RCR and the deal never materialized, according to the complaint.
Poole’s allegations include that Spire’s signing a contract as a consultant for Ganassi in its sponsorship search to replace Larson sponsor Target also created a conflict of interest.
“Spire unfairly, illegally and fraudulently procured the diversion and misappropriation of Brennan Poole’s primary sponsor, DC Solar, from Brennan Poole to CGR, also a client of Spire,” the complaint states.
A Ganassi spokesman said the team had not comment, and Spire had not yet been served. Poole’s attorney also declined comment.