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Nature’s Bakery won’t let Stewart-Haas Racing ‘bully us’

FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2015, file photo, Danica Patrick poses by her new race car during a news conference to announce a new sponsorship for her NASCAR auto racing team at Stewart-Haas Racing's headquarters in Kannapolis, N.C. One of Danica Patrick's sponsors has stepped up to fill a sudden funding void created when Stewart-Haas Racing sued her primary backer for $31 million in a breach of contract suit. Aspen Dental said Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, it will be the lead sponsor for Patrick and debut on her car in the Feb. 26 season-opening Daytona 500. Patrick and SHR were left with 20-some races to fill less than two weeks before teams report to Daytona International Speedway because of a nasty split between the team and primary sponsor Nature's Bakery.(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File) FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2015, file photo, Danica Patrick poses by her new race car during a news conference to announce a new sponsorship for her NASCAR auto racing team at Stewart-Haas Racing's headquarters in Kannapolis, N.C. One of Danica Patrick's sponsors has stepped up to fill a sudden funding void created when Stewart-Haas Racing sued her primary backer for $31 million in a breach of contract suit. Aspen Dental said Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, it will be the lead sponsor for Patrick and debut on her car in the Feb. 26 season-opening Daytona 500. Patrick and SHR were left with 20-some races to fill less than two weeks before teams report to Daytona International Speedway because of a nasty split between the team and primary sponsor Nature's Bakery.(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

By Associated Press February 16, 2017 1 min read

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Nature’s Bakery says it won’t let Stewart-Haas Racing “bully us” with a $31 million breach-of-contract lawsuit tied to a sponsorship dispute involving driver Danica Patrick.

The Nevada-based food company, one of the smallest primary sponsors in NASCAR, severed its sponsorship agreement with SHR and Patrick after the first year of a three-year deal. SHR responded with a scathing lawsuit in which it accused Nature’s Bakery of having cash-flow issues and concocting reasons for its decision to pull out.

Nature’s Bakery CEO Kelly Allin says the company was “thrown off by SHR’s lawsuit” and had plans to meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, days before the lawsuit was filed.

Allen says SHR “took advantage” of the company and that Nature’s Bakery will defend itself in court.

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