Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Stewart files lawsuit over phony memorabilia

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Tony Stewart has filed a lawsuit against a Georgia man, accusing him of selling counterfeit racing helmets and other non-licensed memorabilia featuring the NASCAR Winston Cup champion and his sponsor, The Home Depot.

Stewart's lawsuit has led to police and FBI investigations of Gary McColgin, of Woodstock, Ga., according to a release from Stewart's publicist.

The release also stated that McColgin has been arrested for selling counterfeit Rolex watches on E-bay and alleged that counterfeit Tony Stewart racing helmets have sold for more than $4,000.

Stewart's racing helmets are designed and painted by Jason Beam, who runs a custom paint shop near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Beam also designs and paints helmets for many Winston Cup drivers in addition to Stewart.

"We've been trying to track this guy down for a while now," Stewart said of McColgin. "It looks like fake racing helmets weren't the only things he was selling. The fake Rolexes were the first things to get him in trouble, but my management group has been gathering evidence and we've charged Mr. McColgin with selling fake racing helmets.

"I want to be on the record in saying that selling fake racing merchandise of any kind will not be tolerated by me or anyone affiliated with Tony Stewart Motorsports. It's deceptive, and it hurts race fans and teams alike -- race fans because they're not getting authentic merchandise for which they paid, and teams who are unable to secure the royalties from racing merchandise so they can't re-invest that money back into the race team."

Stewart's lawsuit against McColgin alleges federal trademark infringement, federal copyright infringement, federal false advertising, federal and state unfair competition and violations of the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The exhibition race will be in conjunction with the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show in Las Vegas and will be followed by a 99-lap Speed Truck Challenge race.

Tickets for the event can be purchased online at www.driventorock.com.

Lynch, 23, also has a commanding lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. In 10 Winston West starts this season, Lynch has two victories and five top-10 finishes in a Dodge that is prepared by Orleans Racing.

The Winston West Series resumes Sunday with a 150-lap race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Irwindale Speedway general manager Bob DeFazio told the paper that a Truck Series race would not make economic sense for the track, which seats 6,500.

"When we did the math, it did not work," DeFazio said. "We have to show a profit for it to work."

Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas, now a regular in the NCTS, won all three NASCAR Winston West races at Irwindale en route to repeating as that series' champion in 2001 and was looking forward to the possibility of running his Orleans Racing Dodge truck at Irwindale.

"I would kill to take my truck to race at Irwindale," Gaughan said.

The 2004 NCTS schedule has not yet been released, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway has announced its eighth Truck Series race will be Sept. 25, 2004.