RCR Sues: Richard Childress Racing, the owner of the late Dale Earnhardt’s Winston Cup team, has filed suit in federal court accusing a Charlotte-based company of stealing the design of Earnhardt’s former car number and profiting from his Feb. 18 death in a last-lap wreck at the Daytona 500. Barry Baker and Billi Jo McCall Baker and their Heavenly Designs of N.C. Inc. company are named in the lawsuit filed Sept. 13 and reported Friday by Bloomberg News. Earnhardt won six of his seven Winston cup titles while driving for Childress and since 1980 competed in cars bearing a slanted No. 3. The lawsuit accuses the Bakers of selling memorabilia with the number combined with wings and a halo to symbolize Earnhardt’s death. “We’re going to do what we have to do to protect our rights,” Childress said Sunday. “We do have the trademark and the service marks on the stylized 3. We’ll do what we have to do to protect that. We’ve had an unbelievable amount of illegal stuff being made. What we usually do is have a cease-and-desist (order) and that pretty much stops it. We’re just trying to protect what Dale and I have built over the years.” After being told to stop selling the items, the suit contends, the Bakers modified the design and then incorporated Heavenly Designs on July 11 to continue selling items. “As a result of these unlawful activities, defendants have received substantial profits to which they are not entitled, resulting in corresponding losses to RCR,” the lawsuit contends. RCR is seeking a court order recalling infringing items from shelves and blocking future sales, along with any profits, damages and court fees. The racing group also asks that the Bakers be held personally liable for the infringements, saying they set up Heavenly Designs to protect themselves from a lawsuit. No court date has been set to hear the case.(That’s Racin’)(9-23-2001)
