NASCAR, ISC and Kentucky Speedway hearing Monday-UPDATE
Quote selected text Published November 20th, 2007 in NASCAR News
UPDATE:
A federal judge said attorneys for NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Kentucky Speedway should consider returning to the bargaining table.
U.S. District Court judge William Bertelsman said Monday an expected monthlong trial, followed by several years of appeals, could be avoided if the two sides continue mediation.
NASCAR and ISC attorneys asked Bertelsman for a summary judgment Monday, arguing the speedway has insufficient evidence to prove NASCAR and ISC worked together with other tracks to keep the Kentucky track from acquiring a NASCAR Nextel Cup race.
Bertelsman said he won’t rule on the motion until January at the earliest. A March 4, 2008 trial date already has been set.
“If you want to, now would be a good time to return to mediation,” Bertelsman said.
The two sides met for five hours in June with no success, and Bertelsman said it was his understanding neither side wants to settle.
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NASCAR, International Speedway Corp. and Kentucky Speedway head to court Monday afternoon for a hearing on whether the race track’s antitrust lawsuit should go to trial. Each side will get 45 minutes to present their case in front of U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman in Covington, Ky., during the summary judgment hearing.
The summary judgment motion, which asks the judge to rule in favor of NASCAR and ISC before the case goes to trial, already has been filed under seal. It is typical for defendants in such litigation to file summary judgment requests. The judge is not expected to rule Monday. Kentucky Speedway claims that NASCAR and ISC illegally conspire to keep non-ISC tracks from getting Nextel Cup races.
NASCAR is a privately owned sanctioning body owned by the France family while ISC is a publicly traded track operator whose majority of voting stock is owned by the France family. ISC and NASCAR deny the claims. Kentucky Speedway is asking for the France family to sell its interest in either NASCAR or ISC, for ISC to sell eight of its tracks and for NASCAR to create objective factors for the awarding of Cup dates. The trial is scheduled to begin March 4.
Bookmark to:
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if this goes through and KY wins it… which i really hope… how do they enforce it? and dosen’t having the same CEO in both mean that yes, he will want all the money through both companies to stay with him?
ISC and NASCAR do exactly what they are being accused of. They bought and shut down the Colorado racetrack so they could move the Busch race to Martinsville (an ISC track). They are all crooks.
A monopoly is illegal. This is a clear example to me. They control the market and the venues in which the market is sold.
Sounds like a good business move to me. I’d bet that if you were in the same position as the France family you would do the same thing…I would. BTW, I am no fan of the France family. I hope they quit trying to turn NASCAR into something fake like the WWF. Let the drivers get back to racing and settling their differences however they see fit. If you are that unhappy with the way they do things don’t attend races, buy NASCAR related merchandise or watch NASCAR on TV. I opted to go hunting during the final 2 races and don’t feel like I missed a whole heck of alot.
NASCAR is a privately held company that can give races to whoever they want for whatever reason they want. Just like the NFL can give teams to whatever city the want for whatever reason they want.
If I build a Billion dollar football stadium with no gaurantee from the NFL and I dont get a team… oh well its my fault for building the stadium without a gaurantee of what I really wanted. Same goes for NASCAR.
Texas won their case because they had a contract with NASCAR saying they will have 2 cup races. However Kentucky doesnt have anything from NASCAR saying they will have a Cup race.