Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, which finished 29th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series owner standings in their first season of operations in 2022, has filed a lawsuit against Equity Prime Mortgage which sponsored the team in 14 races during the season.
According to the court docket from the United States District Court Southern District of Florida Fort Lauderdale Division, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, LLC (JIM) is seeking $4,125,000 from Equity Prime Mortgage, LLC (EPM) as JIM alleges that EPM committed a breach of their sponsorship contract.
JIM alleges that EPM agreed to pay JIM $2,250,000 in the form of a $187,500 monthly payment for 12 months, which would be payable on the first of the month, starting on December 1, 2021. The contract also included a sponsorship agreement and the total for the second year of the partnership was set at $3,750,000, which would also be paid out in 12 monthly payments of $312,500.
JIM is attempting to recoup the two missed payments from 2022, which equates to $312,500 as well as the full 2023 sponsorship agreement total of $3.75-million, based on the original sponsorship agreement stating that EPM, “shall remain responsible for paying JIM the entirety of the compensation set forth,” in the Statement of Work agreement.
The court docket states that on or about September 27, 2022, an executive at EPM told an executive at JIM that EPM got “margin called” and was suffering due to mortgage rate hikes and that EPM would be unable to make any additional payments to JIM.
On or about two days later, an executive at EPM texted an executive at JIM to confirm that EPM would not be making the October 1, 2022 payment, or any further payments going forward.
After the deadline for the October 1st payment was officially passed, JIM issued EPM a Notice of Intent to terminate the sponsorship agreement between EPM and JIM based on EPM’s material breach of the agreement for failing to make the required payments of $187,500 on October 1st and November 1st.
Following this movement, JIM offered EPM 30 days to remedy the missed payments, but EPM took no action.
While the 30-day offer to remedy the situation was issued to EPM from JIM, EPM allegedly continued to take advantage of their status as a sponsor of the NASCAR Xfinity Series team, as EPM continued to make promotional posts on social media, which featured the company’s logo on the JIM race car, the company also was able to serve as the primary sponsor for the No. 34 in the October 1, 2022 event at Talladega Superspeedway.
Additionally, EPM had requested to have their guests added to a guestlist for the race weekend, which concluded on October 2nd, and requested that their guests receive special access to the event.
The No. 34 car, driven by Iwuji in that event, finished 28th.
Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, a race team founded by NFL Hall of Fame Running Back Emmitt Smith, Iwuji, and a group of investors, was officially launched to the public on February 7, 2022 with a press conference at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
At the press conference, the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro was unveiled with Equity Prime Mortgage as the primary sponsorship partner on the car, and Eddy Perez, the co-founder, and CEO of EPM was on hand at the event.
Overall, the JIM team scored one top-10 finish through 30 starts over the course of the season. While the organization struggled early in the ultra-competitive NASCAR Xfinity Series, failing to qualify for three events, the team found its footing and stability with Kyle Weatherman behind the wheel down the stretch.
The team scored five top-15 finishes in their maiden season, four of which came with Weatherman behind the wheel, while Iwuji scored an 11th-place finish driving the car at Daytona International Speedway in September.
Jesse Iwuji declined a request for comment from TobyChristie.com for this story due to the case being ongoing.
TobyChristie.com also reached out to Darren A. Heitner of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., the attorney representing Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, but a response has not been obtained at the time of publishing. If a comment is received after publishing, the story will be amended with an update containing the comment.
TobyChristie.com has also attempted to obtain comment from Equity Prime Mortgage on the matter, but has received no answer at this time.
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