The Bryan Herta Autosport IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team is suing a former client for allegedly failing to honor the terms of its contract, which includes non-payment for a significant sum of money.
Under the Bryan Herta Rallysport LLC, banner, the team owned by Herta and Sean Jones filed a lawsuit against Deily Motorsports LLC and its owner Robert Deily as an individual, in Deily’s home state of Oklahoma, seeking remuneration for the terms in the loan of a Hyundai Elantra N TCR fielded by Deily in 2023.
Deily Motorsports purchased one Hyundai and made use of a second lent from BHA for its two-car TCR effort, and according to the filing from September 2024, the BHA and Deily entered into an agreement on Jan. 6, 2023, with a “Vehicle Loan Agreement for lease of a race vehicle,” and in that agreement, Deily was “obligated to return the race vehicle in the same race-ready condition it was received.”
The complaint also describes the agreement as containing terms where Deily was “responsible for all damages incurred during the loan period,” and Deily “was to return the vehicle with all components it received.”
BHA alleges Deily “failed to return the race vehicle in the same race-ready condition it was received, that it was returned damaged, that it was missing components and other ways breached the agreement.”
Having allegedly taken receipt of a crashed and incomplete Hyundai Elantra TCR N, BHA has asked the court to deliver a finding in its favor, stating “as a result of the default of [Deily] under the terms and conditions of the agreement, [BHA] has been damaged and is entitled to judgement in the amount of $110,704.26.”
In the filing, BHA included a copy of the invoice generated on Feb. 23, 2024, sent to Bob Deily and Deily Motorsports at an address in Edmond, Okla., with terms listed as due on receipt, with $102,604.26 listed under Miscellaneous for “Chassis #31 – damaged and mileaged parts to put car back into condition when leased,” and 54 hours of labor at $150 per hour for “labor on repaired parts,” at an additional $8100, to reach the total of $110,704.26.
Separate from the running of its championship-winning Hyundai TCR program, BHA also serves as the primary importer, distributor, parts supplier, and technical support agent for Hyundai’s race cars in North and South America.
The Deily team contested the majority of the Michelin Pilot Challenge series calendar in 2023, which included using the loaned car from BHA. It returned in 2024 to participate in the opening MPC TCR race ahead of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January with Robert Deily’s son Jacob Deily and Jordan Wisely as the drivers (pictured, top), returned the car to BHA afterwards, which led to the issuing of the six-figure invoice in February, and participated in one final MPC TCR race in June at Mid-Ohio, but in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR with a different driver line-up.
Formed as an LLC in August of 2022, documentation supplied in the filing from BHA says Deily Motorsport is currently listed as an inactive corporation.
This story has been updated to reflect communications with both parties following its original publication.