NEW ORLEANS – An Indiana company is suing NOLA Motorsports of Louisiana in a dispute surrounding venue selection for the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Andretti Sports Marketing Louisiana LLC filed a lawsuit June 16 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against NOLA Motorsports Host Committee Inc., NOLA Motor Club LLC and Laney Chouest, alleging breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment and deceptive trade practices.
According to the complaint, Chouest began negotiating with Andretti to bring the IndyCar Series to the NOLA Motorsports Park in 2014. The two parties signed an agreement, the claim states, whereby Andretti would manage the IndyCar event with financial support from NOLA. After the state of Louisiana committed $4.5 million to bring the event to the park, the suit says Chouest and NOLA Motorsports used $3.4 million of the state grant for capital improvements to the venue, leaving insufficient funds to pay Andretti and other vendors to hold the event. The complaint states that Andretti is owed $850,838.78 for the 2015 event.
The plaintiff seeks a jury trial and reimbursement for in approved expenses under the contract. It is represented by attorneys Allen J. Krouse III, Suzanne Risey and Heather McArthur of the New Orleans firm Frilot LLC.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Case number 2:15-cv-02167