Coke Exploiting Pandemic to Nix Drag Racing Deal, Suit Says (1)

The Coca-Cola Co. is improperly using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to terminate a $34 million professional drag racing sponsorship agreement, a suit filed Monday in California federal court alleges.

Coca-Cola has sponsored the National Hot Rod Associates professional drag racing series since 2002, the group says in its complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The parties extended their contract in 2017, with Coke obtaining series sponsorship and additional exclusive rights to certain NHRA events, the complaint says.

But Coke informed the NHRA in 2019 that it wouldn’t renew its sponsorship when ...