Ed Carpenter Racing drags former sponsor to court over multi-million-dollar worth of alleged dues

The Ed Carpenter Racing team is suing its former sponsor, Milton Todd Ault III, over unpaid dues, which allegedly amount to millions of dollars.

Ault is the founder and CEO of Ault & Company, which combines various operating platforms, such as AI Data Centers and infrastructure. His company also includes BitNile, which was seen as the team's sponsor from the 2022-24 season.

On Friday, May 30, news broke out about the lawsuit, revealing that Ed Carpenter Racing has taken Ault to court after his missed payment of a seven-figure amount. Ault had previously signed a multi-year deal with the team. However, the deal began to crumble as ECR signed a new primary sponsor, Ted Gelov.

While in conversation with Marshall Pruette from Racer.com, Ault stated that the lawsuit is limited to last season's funds.

"They're definitely seeking seven figures. And I dispute it because it has to be adjusted based on the idea that I never signed the contract for 2024 because they would never put in writing, other than emails, that I had the path to ownership and to be able to partially name the team,” he said.

Ault parted ways with the Ed Carpenter Racing team at the end of the 2024 season. Ault's company, AskROI, is currently the secondary sponsor of the #18 Dale Coyne Racing driver Rinus VeeKay. VeeKay previously raced for the ECR team but was axed at the end of the season.

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Ed Carpenter Racing owner gets candid about the impact of global tariffs on the motorsports industry

Ed Carpenter Racing owner Ed Carpenter recently spoke about the implementation and impact of the global tariffs on the motorsports industry. He mentioned how he feels 'somewhat protected' despite the rising costs. The new tariffs were announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in April 2025. Most of the parts for the car in the IndyCar series are manufactured outside of the U.S., and the tariffs will have a huge impact on the sport.

While in conversation with Marshall Pruette from RACER, Ed Carpenter detailed why he feels somewhat protected. He said:

“From my standpoint, a lot of what we do, from season planning and inventory, you build up early in the season, and then you use your parts. So in a lot of cases, by the time we get geared up for Indy (in May), we’ve built up an inventory that then gets used through the year."

"Obviously, that can change if you have some misfortunes and have to replace more than what you anticipated. In that regard, we’re somewhat protected from the onset just by how our budget cycles always tend to be a little front-loaded with our buying. I think that provides some layer of protection without planning for (tariffs),” Carpenter added.

The current tariffs might not seem of great concern to the teams. Still, they will eventually feel the impact of the elevated prices during the purchasing cycle, which takes place from February to October. It is yet to be determined if the rise in tariffs will impact the performance of the teams on track.