After getting slapped with a multi-million dollar lawsuit himself, this NASCAR star isn’t taking it sitting down and has filed his own countersuit against the company amidst the current legal battle that started right about the time 2017’s racing season kicked off.
Longtime NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, who recently married his longtime girlfriend Ashley Van Metre in a Bahamian ceremony and featured a reception with Steven Tyler as a performer, was sued by his old management company mid-February for, what they allege, are back-owed bills for services rendered.
Busch’s former management company, Sports Management Network (SMN), launched a lawsuit against the NASCAR driver in U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of Michigan and claims that Busch has failed to make the proper payments required by his agreement since late 2016.
SMN is seeking $1,470,050 from Busch which includes interest, costs, attorney’s fees, and his back-due payments of $930,450. The management company also asserts that they are owed an additional $540,000 that has not been billed out, but which will be based on his performance/earnings in the 2018 season.
Now, NBC Sports NASCAR has reported that Busch is demanding his counter-suit be heard through a jury trial only and alleges that SMN “improperly advantaged themselves”. The news story also says that the management company did not make Busch aware that there were conflicts of interest with Team Penske clients and Andretti Autosport, nor did they advise him to seek independent counsel.
In addition to the new claims brought forth by Busch, he also denies the allegations laid out in SMN’s original lawsuit and reiterated that he terminated the deal with SMN in March 2016.
The counter-suit seeks to have judgement entered against SMN and their fellow defendants for “millions of dollars to be proven at trial plus all such other relief that the Court deems just and appropriate.” Busch is seeking a minimum of $1.3 million from the defendants.
In response to the lawsuit, SMN’s legal team released a statement, saying, “Defendants’ allegations are outrageous and have no factual basis. It is a shame that, in an effort to avoid paying fees that are owed, Defendants instead have chosen to disparage the impeccable reputation of our clients who, for more than a decade, maximized Mr. Busch’s career opportunities, financially and otherwise, often during times when Mr. Busch’s conduct, both on and off the track, threatened his career. We are confident that the court will see through what is nothing more than a desperate, diversionary tactic.”
Watch the video below that discusses another lawsuit in which Busch was involved in during the latter part of 2015 with a clothing company and let us know what you think about his counter-suit in the comments.