Panther IndyCar takes legal action over loss of National Guard deal

The suit, which was filed in Marion County, Indiana last Wednesday, is a civil tort naming RLL, IndyCar, John Metzler and Document and Packaging Brokers, Inc as the defendants.

Metzler is a member of the Army National Guard Bureau, while Document and Packaging Brokers, also known as DocuPak, administers the National Guard sponsorship in behalf of LM&O Advertising.

DocuPak was responsible for soliciting six teams and ultimately received proposals from four, including Panther, when the previous National Guard deal was coming to an end.

While Rahal Letterman Lanigan was verbally awarded the contract last September, the deal was not confirmed until last month after Panther unsuccessfully protested the decision to the US Government Accountability Office.

Panther's claim that it had been unfairly prejudiced by the fact that the National Guard relied on DocuPak's assessments of the proposals rather than evaluating the proposals themselves was rejected by the GAO.

The GAO report released in January said that the National Guard had instructed DocuPak to make its decision on a best-value basis, and revealed four criteria under which the teams were judged; a process that ended with RLL ahead in three categories and tied with Panther on the other.

It also revealed the price set by the respective teams, with RLL's figure of $12.7 million per year coming in well under the $17.2 million requested by Panther.

Panther has not commented specifically on the litigation, but issued the following statement:

"As a company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation. However, as we have for more than 15 years, Panther Racing is committed to always acting with integrity and conducting business in an ethical and legal manner.

"Our singular focus remains on fielding a strong IndyCar race team on the track and being a responsible corporate citizen off of it.

"We remain active members of the Indianapolis community and will continue to support US servicemen and women through our work with the US Department of Veteran Affairs, the White House's Joining Forces initiative, Fisher House and the USO, among others."

Graham Rahal will carry the National Guard colours for RLL in the upcoming season.

Panther, which was left off the list of teams eligible for IndyCar's Leaders Circle bonus payments released last week, is yet to confirm its driver for 2014.