With the highly contentious legal battle between 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR over the 2025 Charter Agreement ongoing, yet another lawsuit relating to charters has arisen. However, this is very different from the 23XI/FRM vs. NASCAR situation, which claims the sanctioning body violated antitrust laws.
This lawsuit, filed in Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Courts on April 1st by Legacy Motor Club (LMC) , alleges that Rick Ware Racing (RWR) is trying to illegally back out of a deal to sell one of its charters to the Jimmie Johnson-run team. The two organizations came to an agreement in early March with LMC claiming RWR signed the document, initialing each page.
Taking aim at RWR's lack of performance
Several parts of the 46-page document are redacted, but in what was made publicly available, the issue is clear. LMC claims to have a legally binding agreement with RWR over the sale of this charter, but the latter is trying to renege the deal.
The language throughout the filing is tense, at one point stating: "At the exact same time that Legacy has charted a path forward, RWR has flagged and flailed in the rear.” At this time, RWR's only full-time entry is driven by Cody Ware [son of Rick] and sits last in the championship standings. RWR does have a second charter, which they leased to RFK Racing ahead of the 2025 season. Legacy Motor owns two chartered entries in the Cup Series, but this filing indicates that they have plans to expand to three full-time entries for 2026.
There are only 36 charters available in the NASCAR Cup Series and each is extremely valuable, being sold between teams for tens of millions of dollars. In the filing, LMC described RWR as "strapped for cash, and unable to compete at a Cup Series level by its own admission," before then adding: "RWR needed to sell one of its charters."
What happened?
The two parties met on January 6th of this year with LMC CEO Cal Wells III meeting with Rick Ware and his broker. As previously stated, the deal was finalized on March 3rd with the two executing an official Charter Purchase Agreement.
From the filing: "Despite having a binding deal in place, RWR wants to back out. It has told Legacy that it will not, under any circumstances, close the parties' transaction. Legacy has tried to talk sense to RWR, to no avail. Legacy's patience has run out. It now brings this suit to enforce its rights and hold RWR to its deal."
In their allegations against RWR, Legacy says Rick Ware's organization has "recently faced mounting financial pressures, which has prompted Mr. Ware to sell one of RWR's charters."
In the short-term, LMC is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against Rick Ware Racing as they assert their legal right to this disputed charter.
