US Court of Appeals upholds $31M payment due from former NASCAR team owner

The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the $31 million judgment against BK Racing owner Ron Devine stemming from the organization’s bankruptcy. The former NASCAR team owner was indicted in 2023 on four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes.

For those who need a refresher, Devine was taken to court following the bankruptcy of BK Racing. Union Bank & Trust Company claimed that they owned the charter that BK sold to Front Row. That led to a number of legal issues.

In 2022 it was ordered that Devine had to pay $31 million to the trustee handling the bankruptcy for BK Racing. That decision was appealed. However, the appeals court is not seeing eye to eye with Devine.

According to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, the decision was upheld. The judge did not mince words, either.

US Court of Appeals affirms $31M default judgment against BK Racing owner Ron Devine. From the ruling:"The bankruptcy court exhibited extraordinary patience in the face of Appellants’ egregious conduct. This Court will not condone such blatant disregard for the judicial process." https://t.co/G2OkyCUaLD

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 17, 2025

“The bankruptcy court exhibited extraordinary patience in the face of Appellants’ egregious conduct. This Court will not condone such blatant disregard for the judicial process.”

You never want a judge using that kind of language against you, that’s for sure. BK Racing feels like a distant memory for most NASCAR fans. Not so much for Ron Devine who will have to come up with a lot of money.

While this legal issue is wrapping up, NASCAR finds itself in its own legal troubles. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are taking the series to court over antitrust concerns. Soon we could see limited, likely redacted, discovery from both sides.

BK Racing saga ends, how weird was that?

For years in the NASCAR Cup Series, team owners have come in and tried to make a quick buck. The only problem with that is, racing doesn’t make money. Rarely does anyone who gets into motorsports come out of it in the black.

When BK Racing came onto the scene, they couldn’t really make much of an impact. A team that is focused on making money isn’t going to have a great time making fast cars. Although we did get to see many of today’s NASCAR stars cut their teeth with the team.

Alex Bowman, Corey LaJoie, Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Truex, and many others raced for BK Racing at one point or another. Most of those drivers did not find much success with the organization.

NASCAR teams come and go and in the 2010s there were a lot of teams like BK that came and went. People who get into racing for the wrong reasons usually don’t last long. It is a story that happens time and again and will probably happen in the future at some point. Although the price of charters makes that a lot more difficult.

The BK Racing saga is coming to an end. Front Row Motorsports is now a three-car operation with three charters. Although they remain in their own legal dispute. Some things never change, I guess.