Legacy Motor Club sues Rick Ware Racing over NASCAR charter purchase gone awry
Legacy Motor Club filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Rick Ware Racing as the two NASCAR Cup Series teams clash over a charter purchase gone awry.
According to the suit, Legacy is seeking a temporary restraining order to complete the transaction of an RWR charter (which is similar to a franchise in other sports).
Legacy said the teams met on Jan. 6 to strike a deal and signed it on March 3 after agreeing on payment terms. Exact figures were not disclosed publicly, but charters have been sold at valuations of up to $40 million. And now, Legacy claims, RWR has cold feet.
'Despite having a binding deal in place, RWR wants to back out,' the suit said. 'It has told Legacy that it will not, under any circumstances, close the parties' transaction. Legacy has tried to talk sense into 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.'
According to multiple sources familiar with the lawsuit but not authorized to speak publicly, the dispute centers around the timing of when the charter would be transferred from RWR to Legacy, which is owned by seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. RWR is said to have been under the impression the agreement would go into effect for 2027, but Legacy changed the year to 2026 without communicating to team owner Ware or other RWR representatives it had done so.
It was only after Ware signed the contract that he learned of the change to the transfer date, after which RWR communicated to Legacy the deal was off.
Legacy disagreed, noting in the suit: 'Not only did the parties sign the agreement, they initialed every page for good measure. Indeed, the parties agreement (redacted) has been clear from almost the beginning of the parties' negotiations.'
Further, the filing said, RWR's position is 'belied both by the plain text of the agreement and the contemporaneous written communications surrounding the parties' negotiations.'
Much of the suit is heavily redacted, leaving further specifics unclear at this time other than headings such as 'Legacy Uncovers the Truth' and 'RWR Gets Cold Feet.'
A request for comment from RWR was not immediately returned. Legacy said its longstanding policy is not to discuss contractual or business dealings publicly.
NASCAR declined to comment on the matter.
NASCAR has 36 charters, each of which provides guaranteed entry into all Cup Series races. Charter teams earn millions of dollars in purse money, which is distributed from NASCAR's $7.7 billion media rights deals with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon and Warner Brothers Discovery.
(Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
33 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Denny Hamlin wins at Michigan for his 3rd NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin is pulling off quite a juggling act. Hamlin outlasted the competition at Michigan International Speedway for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 57th of his career, juggling his roles as a driver, expectant father and co-owner of a racing team that's suing NASCAR. 'The tackle box is full,' Hamlin said Sunday. 'There's all kinds of stuff going on.' Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, went low to pass William Byron on the 197th of 200 laps and pulled away from the pack to win by more than a second over Chris Buescher. 'Just worked over the guys one by one, giving them different looks,' he said. Ty Gibbs finished third, matching a season best, followed by Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson. The 44-year-old Hamlin was prepared to leave his team to join his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is due to give birth to their third child, a boy. If she was in labor by Lap 50 or sooner at Michigan, he was prepared to leave the track. Hamlin said he would skip next week's race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth. To add something else to Hamlin's plate, he is also co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, which is involved in a lawsuit against NASCAR. He drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which hadn't won at Michigan in a decade. 'I think it's the most underrated track that we go to,' said Hamlin, who has won three times on the 2-mile oval. Hamlin became JGR's winningest driver, surpassing Kyle Busch's 56 victories, and the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win after his 700th start. 'It feels good because I'm going to hate it when I'm not at the level I'm at now,' he said. 'I will certainly retire very quicky after that.' Hamlin's team set him up with enough fuel to win while many drivers, including Byron, ran out of gas late in the race. 'It really stings,' said Byron, the points leader, who was a season-worst 28th. 'We just burned more (fuel) and not able to do much about that.' Hamlin, meanwhile, wasn't on empty until his celebratory burnout was cut short. Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe was out front until Byron passed him on Lap 12. Buescher pulled ahead on Lap 36 and stayed up front to win his first stage this season. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott took turns with the lead before a crash involving Alex Bowman brought out the red flag on Lap 67. Byron took the lead again after a restart on Lap 78 as part of his strong start and surged to the front again to win the second stage. Carson Hocevar took the lead on Lap 152 and was informed soon thereafter that he didn't have enough fuel to finish, but that became moot because a flat tire forced him into the pits with 18 laps to go. Hocevar faded to a 29th-place finish, a week after he was second to match a career best at Nashville, where he created a buzz with an aggressive move that knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race. Bowman hit a wall with the front end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as part of a multi-car crash in his latest setback. 'That hurt a lot,' he said after passing a medical evaluation. 'That was probably top of the board on hits I've taken.' Bowman, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, came to Michigan 12th in points and will leave lower in the standings. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of his last nine starts and didn't finish for a third time during the tough stretch. Defending race champion Tyler Reddick qualified 12th, but started last in the 36-car field because of unapproved adjustments and rallied to finish 13th. NASCAR shifts to Mexico City for its first points-paying international race in modern history on June 15. ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Upset Kyle Larson Takes Aim at Denny Hamlin and Another Driver at Michigan
Upset Kyle Larson Takes Aim at Denny Hamlin and Another Driver at Michigan originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Kyle Larson finished fifth in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan. His rival Denny Hamlin won the race and tied the Hendrick Motorsports driver and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell with three wins apiece in the season's first 15 races. Advertisement Early in the second stage, Larson was running in seventh when he pulled up alongside Hamlin on the outside and attempted to pass when the No. 11 car slid up the track and squeezed the No. 5 against the wall, forcing him to lift. 'Look out the [expletive] windshield Denny instead of the [expletive] mirror,' an upset Larson said over the team radio a lap later. Kyle Larson during final practice at Indianapolis Motor J. Rebilas-Imagn Images After the race, the 2021 champion was questioned about his frustration levels on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. 'Yeah, I just got frustrated a couple times,' Larson admitted. 'Denny did what Denny does and — yeah, just ran an angle around one and two like I was never outside of him and ran us out of room. So I was frustrated there. "And then, yeah, Ty Dillon was just mirror driving. We were all running 74th back there and he was mirror driving me, then mirror driving Blaney and I just got kind of fed up with it. It just doesn't make sense to mirror drive at a place like this. Like we can all benefit from each other if we can just work together when we're in a line like that. But, I don't know. So yeah, that was frustrating.' Advertisement Related: Kyle Larson Admits to Change in Personal Life That His Fans Won't Like Related: Kyle Larson Doesn't Hold Back and Vents on Team Radio About NASCAR's 'Stupid' Problem This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Michigan delivers another heartbreaking finish for Carson Hocevar
BROOKLYN, Mich. —While other drivers climbed from their cars after Sunday's 400-mile race at Michigan International Speedway, Carson Hocevar sat in his vehicle on pit road. When he finally emerged from his No. 77 Chevrolet, Hocevar walked around the car and briefly looked off to the distance toward Denny Hamlin's victory celebration. It was another gut punch for the 22-year-old Michigan native. Advertisement The caution Hocevar needed to stretch fuel to the end of the race never came and a flat tire forced him to pit from the lead 19 laps from the finish. The result was a 29th-place finish that most will forget but not Hocevar. 'It's just like (reliving) the Truck days,' Hocevar said on pit road. 'But you're doing it in front of a big stage. The difference is I felt like I was throwing them away. Now, they're getting taken away … things out of our control.' NASCAR: NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan Denny Hamlin wins fuel-mileage battle at Michigan International Speedway The Joe Gibbs Racing star took the lead from William Byron on Lap 197 of 200. Advertisement While Hocevar seems poised to score his first Cup career win, heartbreak has hounded him this season. Sunday just added to a growing list. Consider: His engine blew while he ran second in the final stage of last month's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. At Texas last month, he pitted from sixth in the final stage. The caution came two laps later, putting him a lap down and forcing him to take a wave around to get back on the lead lap. If he had pitted a lap later, he likely would have been in a prime spot to win. Instead, he finished 24th. At Bristol in April, he was running third when his team had a 22-second pit stop, ending any chance at victory. Hocevar finished 11th. Advertisement That doesn't include last week's runner-up finish at Nashville that was clouded by his controversial contact that wrecked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and led to the drivers and their crew chiefs having conversations during the week. Alex Bowman Michigan Alex Bowman on Michigan crash: 'That hurt a lot' Alex Bowman walked away from a vicious crash in Sunday's crash at Michigan. Sunday's pain was evident in Hocevar's downbeat voice on the radio after the race when he told the team in a soft voice: 'Good job everybody.' Crew chief Luke Lambert quickly added: 'Great work guys. I know that's heartbreaking. Great work. We're putting ourselves in position. We'll keep working. We'll get us there. We'll get us one soon.' Advertisement Lifting up the team becomes one of Lambert's key roles right now. 'It's hard on all of us,' Lambert said of the recent disappointments. 'We got to just step back a little bit and look at here we are … running constantly in the top three. That in it of itself is an accomplishment. If we keep doing that, our day is coming.' Hamlin agrees. NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 Denny Hamlin is back to being the villain, provoking Michigan crowd after win Denny Hamlin told fans he beat their favorite driver and did part of an Ohio State cheer in front a crowd that featured many University of Michigan fans. 'You can't run as fast as he's running, being up front as much as he's up front, without eventually winning,' Hamlin said. 'I know that panic sometimes can set in. It's like, 'God, we lost this opportunity.' Advertisement 'But he's with a team that is on the rise. He is on the rise. It's just a matter of time. None of us would be shocked if it's next week or a month from now or whenever it is. 'I certainly give him his fair share of (grief) on Mondays on my podcast, but that doesn't mean that I don't respect his talent. 'Absolutely just a superstar when it comes to actual raw talent. When he figures out how to harness that, pick and choose the moments where he is aggressive, he's going to put it all together and just be the next whoever. There's five to six elite drivers in this field. He can be one of those five or six very easily when he puts it all together.'
