Popular restaurant chain Hooters will pay Hendrick Motorsports $900,000 for unpaid sponsorship fees after their long-term partnership to sponsor Chase Elliott’s No.9 car came to an end in 2024. Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass reported that Hooters has agreed to pay Hendrick Motorsports $900,000. Hendrick had originally sued the restaurant chain for $1.705 million last year.
In a complaint filed last year, Hendrick Motorsports claimed that Hooters was obligated under the sponsorship deal to pay them four installments annually totaling $1.75 million. As per the agreement, Hooters would sponsor Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, Hendrick Motorsports claimed that after making an initial payment, Hooters failed to make the payments in June, August, and October.
Hooters’ Settle the Chase Elliott Sponsorship Case
Hooters initially sponsored two of Elliott’s races last year. They also sponsored the Richmond race. However, that is where the good relationship ended.
On July 1, 2024, HMS filed a lawsuit against the restaurant chain and released a statement stating that their longstanding business relationship with Hooters’ has come to an end. In that release, HMS stated, “In recent months, however, Hooters has not been able to meet its business obligations to our organization.”
Hooters has agreed to pay $900K to Hendrick Motorsports, according to court records. HMS had originally sued Hooters for $1.705 million plus interest for what it had not paid for 2024 sponsorship for Chase Elliiott ($1.75M deal; team had announced three primaries plus associate).
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 21, 2025
The breach of contract forced HMS to terminate the sponsorship deal. With no Hooters branding on Elliott’s car at Nashville, NASCAR fans were sure the partnership, which had begun in 2017, had come to an end.
Pockrass recently shared the latest update on the lawsuit settlement case. He reported Hooters has agreed to pay $900K to Hendrick Motorsports, according to court records. HMS had originally sued Hooters for $1.705 million plus interest for what it had not paid for the 2024 sponsorship for Chase Elliott ($1.75M deal; the team had announced three primaries plus associate).
Apart from NASCAR, Hooters is reportedly facing financial struggles after the dining chain accumulated debts of around $300 million. They also recently closed almost 40 underperforming locations nationwide.
Even with Hooters’ exit, Elliott is not short of a sponsor this season. The No. 9 car has bagged Amazon Prime Video with their sponsorship debut set for Talladega in just a few weeks time. Although the team last lost Hooters gaining a sponsor like Amazon is a significant boost for them.
Talking about the new sponsorship, Stacey Rosenson, Head of US Marketing at Amazon said, “It represents an exciting extension of our new NASCAR relationship. Chase is a wildly popular, championship-winning driver, and we can’t wait to see the No. 9 Prime Video team in action as we approach our streaming debut.”