Ferko filed a derivative suit that contended NASCAR and ISC violated an implied agreement with SMI to provide a second NEXTEL Cup race per racing season upon completion of Texas Motor Speedway, and violated antitrust laws by preventing SMI from obtaining one.
[2] Ferko was represented by The Cochran Firm, and filed the suit after SMI refused to take legal action against NASCAR and ISC regarding the alleged promise of a second date.
SMI, while publicly approving of Ferko's actions, made no attempt to coordinate with him or aid him in the lawsuit.
As it happens, the November date had been inherited by Darlington from Rockingham only a year earlier, when Rockingham had been reduced from two Nextel Cup races to one and after the Southern 500 had been moved from its traditional Labor Day weekend date in favor of giving a second race weekend to Auto Club Speedway.
[1] As of 2022, the tracks involved in the schedule shuffling that took place as a result of the lawsuit had the following occurrences: In 2005, Kentucky Speedway filed a similar suit against NASCAR and ISC, requesting a NEXTEL Cup race at their venue.