CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Robby Gordon Motorsports agreed to a settlement in their lawsuit on Friday and have terminated their merger plan.
Gillett Evernham Motorsports had sued Gordon last month, claiming the owner/driver violated terms of an agreement that would have sold his team to GEM. Gordon insisted he hadn't breached any contract and wanted to proceed with the sale of Robby Gordon Motorsports to GEM.
As part of the resolution, the lawsuit will be dismissed and the merger will not proceed.
Gordon agreed to the deal on Jan. 29 to sell his team at the end of this season for $23.5 million. The deal would have given Gordon a four-year driving contract with GEM, and possibly a seat on the team's board of directors. GEM would have acquired Gordon's shop and property in Charlotte.
GEM claimed that Gordon has talked to other teams about merging, and that Gordon made disparaging remarks that he wasn't getting comparable engines to the other GEM drivers during a television interview at Watkins Glen.
"Management personnel for the two teams acknowledge that there were misunderstandings, but both sides acted in good faith throughout, and in the end it was circumstances beyond their control that caused the merger not to proceed," the two teams said in a joint statement.
The filing of that suit led to speculation that GEM has its sights set on buying another race team as part of its effort to expand to four cars.
Bill Davis' one-car team has a lucrative Toyota deal, but is lacking the sponsorship needed to be competitive. Michael Waltrip Racing, another Toyota team, also could be a target. Waltrip has three cars, but only one has full-time sponsorship locked up for 2009.
