Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek and two crew chiefs, Richard Labbe and Peter Sospenzo, have filed lawsuits against Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. citing breach of contract after they lost their jobs recently, after the merger of the two teams in late July. A week before the merger Bobby Ginn let Marlin and Nemechek go, and the crew chiefs were let go after the merger. The lawsuits were filed last week in Cabarrus County and while neither lawsuit is specific on what they are seeking, they say demand for payment has been made and Ginn and DEI have failed to pay any of it. A spokesman for DEI says they are not responsible and that Ginn Racing will be dealing with the lawsuits.

A spokesman for Ginn did not immediately return a call for comment, but DEI general manager John Story said his organization is not responsible for the old contracts.

“While we were named as a party to the lawsuit, we were never a party to the contracts in question,” Story said. “This is an obligation that Ginn will be addressing and any further questions regarding this matter should be directed to them.”

According to the suit, both drivers were due to make $1.2 million this season, and were promised 45 percent of their race winnings and 33 percent of souvenir sales. Nemechek earned more than $4 million in race winnings last season, while Marlin made $3.2 million.

Labbe, the crew chief for Marlin, and Sospenzo, crew chief for Nemechek, were earning $450,000 annual salaries. Source: Marlin, Nemechek suing Ginn for breach of contract

Wow. I never would’ve thought ol Hunt-a-wreck could make that much money in a year, he finished 27th in the points standings and only had two top tens all year. Just goes to show you how much money is involved in Nascar these days.