Pit Stop at the Courthouse: NASCAR Team Sues Hooters

Hendrick Motorsports is hitting Hooters with a big lawsuit over unpaid sponsorship dollars for Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy.

READ MORE: These Hooters Locations in Indiana Have Abruptly Closed

Things are not looking good for Hooters. Over the past few months, Hooters has shut down several underperforming locations across the nation. According to USA Today, the restaurant chain cited "pressure from current market conditions" as the reason behind the closures, with the company showing a 12% decline since the end of 2018. Additionally, it looks like Hooters is not out of the woods just yet when it comes to financial stressors, as they are now strapped with a hefty lawsuit.

Hooters Sponsorship History in NASCAR

Sports Crush notes Hooters has been a part of NASCAR since 1992, when the chain shook hands with No. 7 Ford driver Alan Kulwicki, who would win the championship that year. Sadly, the Cup Series Champion would be killed a year later in a plane crash, along with three Hooters executives and a few members of the crew. Hooters would remain in the sport, supporting other drivers until 2003. In 2016, the brand sponsored Greg Biffle at the 2016 Southern 500 before making a full comeback in 2017 with Hendrick Motorsports and Chase Elliott.

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Hendrick Motorsports Sues Hooters

In July 2024, Hendrick Motorsports ended its sponsorship deal with Hooters, claiming the chain didn’t pay up on their multi-million dollar deal. Now, the racing team is suing Hooters to get the cash they’re owed for Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. Autoweek reported Hooters made a partial payment of $45,000 back in March 2024 but is refusing to pay the rest of the bill. Hendrick Motorsports is hoping to recover over $1.7 million for the rest of the contract.

With this latest blow to Hooters, I would imagine it's very unlikely the chain will return to a NASCAR sponsorship anytime soon, if at all. It's certainly sad to see this happen, but it's definitely not the first longstanding NASCAR relationship to end in recent years. Within the last decade, several longtime sponsors have since left NASCAR, such as Home Depot, Kodak, Oscar Mayer, Subway, Mars Inc., among several others.

Despite all the drama from Hooters, there was some good news to follow for Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. According to Newsweek, Coca-Cola was quick to step in as the primary backer for the car during the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 11. With that, the sponsorship schedule for the No. 9 Chevrolet is now full for the remainder of the season. The driver is currently ranked No. 3 in the regular season standings, so I'm sure the 2025 sponsorship schedule will fill up quickly.