NASCAR filed a lawsuit last week against the creators of “Racetrack Girls Go Nutz,” alleging that Consolidated Sports Media Group Inc, Daystrike Marketing Inc., and NI4NI Productions improperly used the NASCAR logo on flyers and advertisements.
Texas businessman John Eckerd was also named as a defendant in the suit.
“The claims made against the company are unfounded,” said Scott Schepper, president and CEO of Consolidated. “Because of our appreciation and respect for NASCAR and its fans, all the products on www.racetrackgirls.com are painstakingly scrutinized specifically to adhere to current trademark laws.”
Consolidated Sports also took issue with the description of John Eckerd as the company’s co-founder and said that Eckerd did not maintain a position of co-founder, shareholder or officer at Consolidated.
A review of past company press releases does reveal that Eckerd was the public relations contact for Consolidated earlier this year.
Consolidated also claimed that it never authorized Daystrike Marketing to distribute any unlawful advertising for the film and claimed that it never had any formal connection with NI4NI Productions.
“It’s unfortunate to be accursed of using NASCAR’s service mark for profit, or somehow doing damage to NASCAR’s reputation,” Schepper said. “Both charges are patently untrue.”
The company has also had previous legal trouble with NASCAR, which quickly sent a cease and desist letter to Consolidated after learning that the video was originally going to be named “Daytona Racetrack Girls Go Nutz.”
Consolidated agreed to amend the title.
According to the company, though, orders for the first episode of the series, called “Girls of the Dirty South,” has spiked within the last several weeks.
On the same day that NASCAR announced the lawsuit last week, Consolidated issued a statement saying that it was very pleased with the impact it was having in national media outlets, claiming that it had received favorable mentions on both the Forbes.com website and in the Miami Herald.
The video is currently available for free at the company’s website.
