Hendrick: "My priority is the 88 team''; NASCAR, Mayfield battle rages

Although the season is over, much is still happening in NASCAR.

 

While car owner Rick Hendrick celebrates Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive championship, a 1-2-3 finsih in the points and Hendrick's 9th Cup title, there's one thing missing: The success of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team. Hendrick was on a conference call with reporters Tuesdayand talked about a wide range of topics, including Earnhardt. Here's what he said about Dale Jr. and his team:

 

"My priority right now is the 88 team. We're working on them to try to make that team stronger. The goal going into next year now will be win races and get all four teams in the Chase:

 

Q: So do you know what Dale Jr needs to be more competitive?

 

HENDRICK: I've seen it happen with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie had a slump back around last year about the time we were in Vegas. You just go through these. We know we can make the team better, and it's frustrating, and it's, you know, the driver begins to think that no matter what he does, that something's going to happen, because we just had – we've had failures. We've had wrecks. We've just had a – if it could happen, it happened to that team. 

 

"It's been really frustrating because about the start of the chase, the team was running better. It was probably the best car in Loudon, and it got swept up in a wreck. And we've had all the motors and all the transmissions and gears done in the same place. We had transmission failure, and we had a motor failure. The other guys didn't experience that the chase. 

 

"So when he's running good, something happened. And we just got to be better all the way around. I think when we do that, when Dale sees that we've stepped up in a lot of areas, it will give him the confidence he needs. So we're all over it, and we've been all over it. But it's really one of my focuses here. My priority – my primary focus here starting this week, starting Monday, really.''

 

Also, Hendrick said his niece had her liver transplant on Sunday and was doing better. "The good news,'' he said, "is the liver's working and she's stable and we're going to have a really good Thanksgiving.'' Hendrick left Homestead on Friday to be with her. She is the daughter of his late brother John, who was killed in the Hendrick plane crash five years ago on the way to Martinsville along with John's other two daughters.

 

Hendrick provided a few other tidbits: He said that there's no new news on Danica Patrick and her talks with JR Motorsports. He also said that Chad Knaus has expressed an interest in being a crew chief for five more years and then see what other opportunities there are at Hendrick Motorsports.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

 

NASCAR's attorneys asked U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen to change the date of the deposition of Brian France's ex-wife with Jeremy Mayfield's lawyers to Dec. 14.  NASCAR's attorneys note that Mayfield's attorneys sought to depose her on Dec. 4 when Brian France and others would be unavailable because that is the day of the Sprint Cup banquet in Las Vegas. They have the right to be at the deposition.

 

This is all part of Mayfield's case against NASCAR for suspending for violating the Substance Abuse Policy.

 

In its motion to change the date, NASCAR noted:

 

" ... it is apparent that Plaintiffs (Mayfield and his lawyers) seek to obtain testimony on subject matters and records that are under seal in an unrelated litigation between Brian France and Megan France conerning certain domestic issues. However, doestic issues in general between Brian and Megan France are not relevant to the claims and defenses in this litigation and the proceedings in that domestic case have been placed under seal by court order. Plaintiffs undoubtedly are seeking to harass, embarrass and annoy Mr. France by making private domestic issues that are not relevant to the claims and defenses in this case public.''

 

NASCAR later notes: "First, if Plaintiffs (Mayfield and his lawyers) have a legitimate reason to exclude Defendants' reprentatives and Mr. France from attending Megan France's depositin -- which they do not -- it is Plaintiffs' burden to seek and obtain a protective order from this Court precluding those representatives' attendance. Second, Plaintiffs have failed to provide any sufficient reason why the deposition of Ms. France cannot be set on a date after December 4th that is mutually agreeable to all counsel and parties.''

 

NASCAR's motion notes that Brian France and Megan France were divorced in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on April 29, 2008. NASCAR's lawyers note that is a year before NASCAR suspended Mayfield for testing positive for methamphetamine.

 

In the deposition that Mayfield's attorneys issued Megan France, they request her to provide various documents, including:

 

# Any civil complaint filed against her by Brian Z. France

 

# Any mail in her possession that is addressed to Brian France at any address in North Carolina.

 

# Tax returns from tax years 2007 and/or 2008 where she was a joint filer with Brian France.

 

# Produce any documents under the possession, custody or control of her or her attorneys relating to any lawsuit which Brian Z. France has filed in the past two years, whether such lawsuits are against her or not.

 

NASCAR also field a separate motion to prevent disclosure of such documents to Mayfield's attorneys, noting that many of the documents requested are sealed, based on a court order, in unrelated litigation between Brian France and Megan France. NASCAR notes that the "production of these documents would violate that court order. Other document requests are overboard and seek documents completley unrelated to this litigation.''

 

Also included in NASCAR's motion is a Nov. 20 letter from Mayfield's attorneys to NASCAR's attorneys where Mayfield's lawyers write:

 

"In response to your request for specific dates for the requested psychiatric and physical examinations, we will not be providing any dates until after the Court's ruling on your Motion for Partial Stay of Discovery.'' ... Further, while your motion is pending we will also object to the additional Third Party Subpoenas you are serving. You cannot seek to stay discovery to protect your clients' interest and privacy and then proceed forward seeking discovery from Plaintiff.''

 

When I asked Brian France last week at Homestead about Mayfield's lawyers seeking to involve his ex-wife in the case, he said: "Nothing surprises me with trial lawyers in the 21st century. They are an amazing group of people.''

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

 

IN OTHER COURT-RELATED NEWS:

 

# Dale Earnhardt Inc. has filed a claim with the former General Motors, which was restructured through bankruptcy this summer, seeking $3,252,706.89 based on a written contract DEI had with GM.

 

# JR Motorsports filed a claim against the former GM for $198,000 based on a sponsorship contract.

 

# Auto Club Speedway in California also filed a claim for $45,500 for hospitality facility license entered into in Aug. 2006.

 

# Daytona International Speedway also filed a claim for 651,018.75 for hospitality facility license entered into on Oct. 3, 2006

 

# Richmond International Raceway also filed a claim for $65,700 for hospitality agreement entered into in 2007.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.