Lawsuit season intensifies in racing world as IndyCar team sues former sponsor

The Motorsports world stepped into the lawsuit season as soon as the off-season began, with IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing being the last to file a lawsuit. RLL filed a lawsuit against companies associated with its former sponsor, 5-hour ENERGY, with respect to the motorsports sponsorship agreement.

As the 2025 IndyCar season ended, the champion Alex Palou flew to the UK for a hearing of the lawsuit against him, filed by McLaren. The Spaniard failed to honor the contract with the team and was supposed to join Arrow McLaren in 2024. The same led to a lawsuit, with McLaren claiming $20M in damages for lost earnings.

On the other hand, 23XI, FRM vs NASCAR 10-day trial also began in December for the antitrust lawsuit. Felipe Massa’s lawsuit against FOM, FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone regarding the 2008 championship season crashgate also made it to court.

Now, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is the latest motorsport entity to file a lawsuit. The IndyCar team is seeking damages from Bridge Media Networks, LLC; Innovation Ventures, LLC; Living Essentials, LLC; and International IP Holdings, LLC.

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While the filings were redacted, they did suggest that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing expected monetary value from a channel owned by Bridge Media Networks (BMN) and Innovation Ventures (IV), but the same did not materialize.

“In accord with the purported contract and the parties’ commercial dealings, RLL placed Defendants’ brand, Five Hour Energy, prominently on RLL’s race car. In exchange, BMN and IV agreed to [REDACTED]. By signing the Original MSA, BMN and IV represented that [REDACTED]. In reality, they [REDACTED]. All Defendants knew [REDACTED] before the execution of the Original MSA. All Defendants concealed the fact that [REDACTED] before the execution of the Original MSA,” read the complaint (via Racer)

5-hour-ENERGY was the sponsor for the No.30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry during the 2024 IndyCar season, driven by Pietro Fittipaldi.

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IndyCar team points fingers at BMN/IV’s decision to pull the plug on the channel as they file the lawsuit

As per the motorsports sponsorship agreement signed between Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and 5-hour-ENERGY, the associated companies of the sponsors were said to provide some monetary value from the broadcast channels. However, the same was abruptly shut, which RLL alleged that BMN and IV as,

“Evasion of the spirit of the bargain, lack of diligence and slacking off, willful rendering of imperfect performance, abuse of a power to specify terms, and interference with or failure to cooperate in the other party's performance.”

The complaint suggested that, “The founder shut down the broadcast networks ‘in an unusual way, immediately pulling the plug rather than publicly seeking a buyer or investors.’ He did this with full knowledge and approval of all Defendants.”

Devlin DeFrancesco drove the #30 RLL Honda during the 2025 season. The Canadian was replaced by Mick Schumacher, who completes the RLL driver lineup for 2026.