Latest news with #Puchyr
NBC Sports
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Report: Former Cup team owner enters agreement to buy Rick Ware Racing
T.J. Puchyr, a former owner of Spire Motorsports, has entered an agreement to purchase Rick Ware Racing, according to a report Thursday by The Associated Press. No price was reported on the deal for the NASCAR Cup team. The Associated Press reported that Purchyr will keep Ware as a partner and that Ware's son, Cody, will continue to drive the No. 51 car in the Cup Series. The report also stated that all Rick Ware Racing employees will be retained. Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson became car owners when they purchased the charter from Furniture Row Racing for $6 million after the 2018 season. They formed Spire Motorsports, which won the July Cup race with Justin Haley in July 2019. Puchyr sold his shares of Spire last year to Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, The Associated Press reported. The AP reported that Puchyr believes the charters are undervalued. He was involved in Spire's purchase of Live Fast Motorsports' charter for $40 million in 2023. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport, and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told The Associated Press. Nate Ryan, Rick Ware Racing has two charters — one for the No. 51 car with Cody Ware and a second that is being leased to RFK Racing this year for the No. 60 car of Ryan Preece. Charters can only be leased once every seven years. Rick Ware Racing has a two-year deal with RFK Racing to lease both of its charters for one year each. Legacy Motor Club is suing Rick Ware Racing over a NASCAR charter purchase deal. Legacy Motor Club, which is owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, alleges that Rick Ware Racing is backing out of its agreement to sell a charter to the team. Rick Ware Racing has filed a countersuit, claiming any agreement was for the 2027 season and not the 2026 season as Legacy Motor Club contends. Dustin Long, 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' Puchyr told The Associated Press. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 car ranks last in owner points among the 36 charter teams heading into Saturday night's race at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Puchyr is confident he can help improve the organization's performance. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr told The Associated Press. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner.'
San Francisco Chronicle
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and head of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. What about Ware's second charter? In his deal with Ware, Puchyr will keep Ware on board as a partner, also keep Ware's son, Cody, in the No. 51 Ford, and retain all of the current RWR employees. Ware's current second charter is leased to RFK Racing, but Legacy Motor Club made a legal claim that it had entered an agreement to buy that charter next season. A judge did not agree with Legacy, and said Ware has a lease deal with RFK for 2026 on a second charter. Puchyr believes none of the parties can perform to the Legacy-RWR contract — which he said was written by Legacy — and there is no charter available from Ware for Legacy for either lease or purchase in 2026. Ware has filed a countersuit against Legacy. Legacy, a two-car Cup team, is currently owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson. He has recently taken on partnership from private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management, which alongside Johnson is exploring expansion into several other motorsports series. 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' said Puchyr, who was offended that Legacy sued Ware. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Now, Puchyr and Ware are confident the second charter currently leased to RFK will be returned to their team in 2027, allowing Puchyr to expand the organization. He wants to buy a third charter that makes the organization a three-car Cup team by 2027. Can Puchyr build a winning team? Ware has done the second-most charter transactions in the industry only to Spire and at one point held four. Now he's trying to rebuild his organization and win races with his son as the driver, something Puchyr wants to help him achieve. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr said. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner. 'And I believe we can get these charters valued at their true worth.' Ware fields winning organizations in other motorsports series, including NHRA with Clay Millican. A Ware-owned team won the 2024 American Flat Track championship, the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship and the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series prototype title. Puchyr did not reveal to the AP how much he's paying for Ware's organization, which technically only holds the charter for Cody Ware's car this season and runs Corey Lajoie in a second 'open' car in select races. Once it gets its leased charter back from RFK in 2027, the team will have at least two cars with the focus on purchasing a third. Purchasing charters is not easy at this time as multiple teams have interest but lack the monetary funds to buy them at the ever-increasing rates. Among them is Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has not been able to get his hands on charters to take his Xfinity Series team to NASCAR's top Cup Series level.
11 hours ago
- Automotive
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and header of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. In his deal with Ware, Puchyr will keep Ware on board as a partner, also keep Ware's son, Cody, in the No. 51 Ford, and retain all of the current RWR employees. Ware's current second charter is leased to RFK Racing, but Legacy Motor Club made a legal claim that it had entered an agreement to buy that charter next season. A judge did not agree with Legacy, and said Ware has a lease deal with RFK for 2026 on a second charter. Puchyr believes none of the parties can perform to Legacy-RWR contract — which he said was written by Legacy — and there is no charter available from Ware for Legacy for either lease or purchase in 2026. Ware has filed a countersuit against Legacy. Legacy, a two-car Cup team, is currently owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson. He has recently taken on partnership from private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management, which alongside Johnson is exploring expansion into several other motorsports series. 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' said Puchyr, who was offended that Legacy sued Ware. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Now, Puchyr and Ware are confident the second charter currently leased to RFK will be returned to their team in 2027, allowing Puchyr to expand the organization. He wants to buy a third charter that makes the organization a three-car Cup team by 2027. Ware has done the second-most charter transactions in the industry only to Spire and at one point held four. Now he's trying to rebuild his organization and win races with his son as the driver, something Puchyr wants to help him achieve. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr said. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner. 'And I believe we can get these charters valued at their true worth.' Ware fields winning organizations in other motorsports series, including NHRA with Clay Millican, who won the 2024 American Flat Track championship, the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship and the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series prototype title. Puchyr did not reveal to the AP how much he's paying for Ware's organization, which technically only holds the charter for Cody Ware's car this season and runs Corey Lajoie in a second 'open' car in select races. Once it gets its leased charter back from RFK in 2027, the team will have at least two cars with the focus on purchasing a third. Purchasing charters is not easy at this time as multiple teams have interest but lack the monetary funds to buy them at the ever-increasing rates. Among this is Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has not been able to get his hands on charters to take his Xfinity Series team to NASCAR's top Cup Series level.
Hamilton Spectator
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and header of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. What about Ware's second charter? In his deal with Ware, Puchyr will keep Ware on board as a partner, also keep Ware's son, Cody, in the No. 51 Ford, and retain all of the current RWR employees. Ware's current second charter is leased to RFK Racing, but Legacy Motor Club made a legal claim that it had entered an agreement to buy that charter next season. A judge did not agree with Legacy, and said Ware has a lease deal with RFK for 2026 on a second charter. Puchyr believes none of the parties can perform to Legacy-RWR contract — which he said was written by Legacy — and there is no charter available from Ware for Legacy for either lease or purchase in 2026. Ware has filed a countersuit against Legacy. Legacy, a two-car Cup team, is currently owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson. He has recently taken on partnership from private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management, which alongside Johnson is exploring expansion into several other motorsports series. 'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' said Puchyr, who was offended that Legacy sued Ware. 'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.' Now, Puchyr and Ware are confident the second charter currently leased to RFK will be returned to their team in 2027, allowing Puchyr to expand the organization. He wants to buy a third charter that makes the organization a three-car Cup team by 2027. Can Puchyr build a winning team? Ware has done the second-most charter transactions in the industry only to Spire and at one point held four. Now he's trying to rebuild his organization and win races with his son as the driver, something Puchyr wants to help him achieve. 'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr said. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner. 'And I believe we can get these charters valued at their true worth.' Ware fields winning organizations in other motorsports series, including NHRA with Clay Millican, who won the 2024 American Flat Track championship, the 2022 FIM World Supercross Championship and the 2019-2020 Asian Le Mans Series prototype title. Puchyr did not reveal to the AP how much he's paying for Ware's organization, which technically only holds the charter for Cody Ware's car this season and runs Corey Lajoie in a second 'open' car in select races. Once it gets its leased charter back from RFK in 2027, the team will have at least two cars with the focus on purchasing a third. Purchasing charters is not easy at this time as multiple teams have interest but lack the monetary funds to buy them at the ever-increasing rates. Among this is Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has not been able to get his hands on charters to take his Xfinity Series team to NASCAR's top Cup Series level. ___ AP auto racing:
Winnipeg Free Press
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
T.J. Puchyr agrees to buy Rick Ware Racing with plans to build a 3-car NASCAR team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — One of the founders of Spire Motorsports has entered an agreement to purchase the NASCAR team owned by Rick Ware and is jumping back into the stock car series because he believes the current charters are grossly undervalued. T.J. Puchyr, who in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson launched the Spire team to take over the charter that Furniture Row Racing could not unload, told The Associated Press on Thursday he and Rick Ware Racing have a deal for him to take over Ware's organization next season. When Puchyr and Dickerson bought the Furniture Row charter, the market for NASCAR's version of franchise models was essentially dead. Their agency had been hired by Furniture Row owner Barney Visser to sell the charter and when they couldn't find a buyer, the two decided to purchase it themselves for $6 million and launch their own team. That decision jump-started the charter market and the most recent charters sold — when Stewart-Haas Racing went out of business at the end of last season — went for approximately $30 million. Puchyr and Dickerson are largely credited with pumping life and value into an otherwise dormant charter system. Puchyr last year sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss, the CEO of TWG Motorsports and header of the new Cadillac F1 team. Puchyr has spent 2025 consulting with various teams, including RWR and Legacy Motor Club. He's watched the market closely and has attended several of the recent court hearings involving NASCAR against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, who have filed an antitrust lawsuit over the charter agreement those two teams refused to sign last September. There are only 36 Cup Series charters, which guarantee a team entry into every NASCAR race and a steady revenue stream. Puchyr believes they are greatly undervalued and in one of his final deals with Spire, he helped acquire a charter from Live Fast Motorsports for $40 million. 'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more,' he told AP. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. ___ AP auto racing:
