Truck racer and stunt driver Mike Ryan recently filed a legal complaint against ChampTruck World Series founder and CEO John Condren in Los Angeles County court, prompting Condren to file his own cross-complaint against Ryan. Additionally, ChampTruck has announced suspension of its operations.
Ryan’s lawsuit, dated March 21, names Condren as the sole defendant and alleges that, among other complaints, Condren “fraudulently and intentionally” failed to file Ryan’s name as part of the ChampTruck Limited Liability Company (LLC). The complaint also alleges that Condren exploited Ryan’s name to promote the series in a false or misleading way and requests a full accounting of all ChampTruck monies from January 2014 to the present.
In his cross-complaint filed May 5, Condren alleges that Ryan never signed the LLC agreement and that the services and equipment Ryan provided were not agreed upon as part of the $25,000 seed money from the partners at the series’ outset. The cross-complaint also accuses Ryan of interfering with ChampTruck business relationships and includes complaints for trade libel and defamation.
Both the original complaint and the cross-complaint filings requested a jury trial, should the suit ever go to trial. Per the case summary on the County of Los Angeles Superior Court website, the first case management hearing will be held August 16.
In a statement on the series’ website, ChampTruck noted that it “has suspended operations while we restructure the series.” This came after the series’ third 2016 round at Gateway Motorsports Park was canceled due to low competitor turnout. The ChampTruck’s site no longer lists the remaining 2016 race dates or a contact page.
Condren did not respond to email or phone inquiries for comment on the legal complaints or on ChampTruck’s suspension of operations.
ChampTruck debuted in 2015 with a nine-race schedule and as many as eight big rigs racing on a given weekend. Plans for the series date back at least as far as an August 23, 2013, press release announcing the series with Condren and Ryan listed as series co-founders and French truck racer and race organizer Fabien Calvet as a series partner. Condren and Ryan also made a 2014 appearance at the Mid-America Trucking Show with the series-owned Freightliner on display and spoke in a promotional video that has since been made private on the ChampTruck YouTube channel.
Before ChampTruck, Condren had run ChumpCar World Series, a budget endurance road racing series that he founded in 2009, that was the first such budget series to race at Daytona International Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In late 2014, Condren reorganized ChumpCar into a 501(c)(7) organization, commonly called a “club,” like the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). On April 25, 2016, Condren resigned from his position as the chairman of the ChumpCar Board of Directors with the resignation effective June 30.
Click here to see the legal paperwork for this case
Sorry to say this but…Not that surprised. They lacked the promotion necessary to make a real series. Competitors, or even those interested, didn’t fully understand what was going on, or whether the next race was really happening.
Sounds like John Condren’s dubious dealings caught up with him again. More lawsuits, just like at Altamon Speedway and the scam Riverside Motorsports Park project. Goes along with Condren providing false creds and being bounced out of the Mormon church. More reading:
Example from 2007:
“After a packed, all-night public hearing, the Merced County Board of Supervisors approved the Riverside proposal in December of last year. But that was far from the end of the controversy. In the months that followed, reports surfaced about turmoil within Condren’s company. Two of his former business partners, Shepherd and John Nolind, a racing team owner who cofounded Riverside, now say Condren hijacked the company. They say they watched Condren blow through investors’ money, refuse suggestions to scale back the plan for Riverside, drive the company into debt and, ultimately, fire those who had carried Riverside to its approval. Contention between Condren and Nolind grew so extreme that Nolind grabbed Condren by the throat and shoved him to the ground at a NASCAR race at Altamont last September. Race fans watched as the two struggled in the dirt by the barbecue pit.”
http://www.autoracing1.com/hotnews.asp?tid=21960
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/state/article3243959.html
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/article3244130.html
http://www.modbee.com/news/local/article3101684.html