Latest news with #RWR
New York Times
13-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
How to watch and odds for the Food City 500, NASCAR's Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway
The racing world converges on The Last Great Colosseum this weekend, with Denny Hamlin aiming for another Bristol spring race win and coming off his win at Darlington. Sunday's concrete classic should be a good one, after last year's installment had a track-record 54 lead changes. Though no one knows if the tire wear that led to last year's spring chaos will show up again this time around. Advertisement Practice and qualifying action goes down Saturday afternoon before Sunday's main event. Vegas gives Hamlin the second-best odds for Sunday (+425 on BetMGM), trailing only Kyle Larson (+400). The 44-year-old mainstay has enjoyed a torrid start to 2025 with four top-five starts, winning at Darlington last time out and at Martinsville on March 30. He's second in the Cup Series standings with 266 points, behind William Byron with 315. Larson, meanwhile, sits in sixth with four top-fives of his own. He triumphed at Homestead-Miami last month, and finished fifth at last year's Food City 500. Points leader William Byron has Sunday's sixth-best odds at +1200. Christopher Bell, the only driver with five top-fives this season, is third on the board at +650. Elsewhere, Joey Logano is ninth in points despite leading the third-most laps thus far. A big question for this race is whether extreme tire wear will enter the equation like at last year's spring race — something that mysteriously wasn't duplicated at the fall race at Bristol. If so, Hamlin, in particular, is excellent at managing his tires. For more in-depth NASCAR coverage in anticipation of the race, check out The Athletic's Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi: Gluck quotes William Byron: 'People think I'm not aggressive, but I'm plenty aggressive. I think I just show it in probably a smoother way than maybe what people see. I don't make a lot of errors, so maybe it doesn't look aggressive, but I feel like I'm pretty aggressive. On restarts, I'm always up toward the top of the metrics.' Bianchi on the legal battle between Legacy Motor Club and Rick Ware Racing: 'If Legacy's lawsuit is successful and a judge finds its contract with RWR binding, RWR would effectively be without a charter for the 2026 NASCAR season. And while RWR could still enter Cup races, it would have to do so as an 'open' team, meaning it would not be assured a starting spot in any of the 36 points races and lose out on higher revenue streams.' Streaming and betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Kyle Larson: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
New York Times
09-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Legacy Motor Club obtains restraining order against RWR in suit of NASCAR charter
A judge granted Legacy Motor Club's request Tuesday to obtain a temporary restraining order against Rick Ware Racing in an ongoing lawsuit between the two NASCAR Cup Series teams that was initially filed last week. The order prohibits RWR 'from selling, leasing or otherwise encumbering' the charter Legacy is attempting to acquire from RWR for 10 days or 'until such other time agreed to by the parties.' Advertisement Legacy, co-owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, alleged in the suit that RWR is attempting to back out of a contract signed March 3 that had Legacy purchasing a charter, the NASCAR equivalent of a franchise in other sports, from RWR. The agreement deal is worth approximately $45 million, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly. 'Despite having a binding deal in place, RWR wants to back out,' Legacy stated in its lawsuit. '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.' RWR's point of contention is the timing of the sale and when the charter would transfer to Legacy, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly. Legacy believes it would acquire the charter beginning with the 2026 NASCAR season, while RWR says 2027 is the agreed-upon date and that Legacy changed the year to 2026 in the final contract both teams signed without informing RWR of the change. 'This lawsuit distorts the actual facts and is a misguided attempt to tarnish our reputation. RWR has negotiated in good faith and operated with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism,' a Rick Ware spokesperson said in a statement last week. 'We are confident that the truth will prevail and look forward to swiftly resolving this matter through the proper legal channels.' RWR owns two charters, operating one itself and leasing the other to RFK Racing. Teams that own one of 36 available charters are guaranteed a certain percentage of revenue from NASCAR's billion-dollar media rights deal. If Legacy's lawsuit is successful and a judge finds its contract with RWR binding, RWR would effectively be without a charter for the 2026 NASCAR season. And while RWR could still enter Cup races, it would have to do so as an 'open' team, meaning it would not be assured a starting spot in any of the 36 points races and lose out on higher revenue streams.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Rick Ware Racing calls LMC lawsuit a "misguided attempt to tarnish our reputation"
Motorsport photo On April 1st, Legacy Motor Club (LMC) -- co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson -- filed a lawsuit against Rick Ware Racing regarding a charter dispute. And RWR has already come out swinging in response. Advertisement The suit claims RWR agreed, in writing, to sell one of its charters to LMC but is now trying to back out of the deal. LMC, which already fields full-time entries for Erik Jones and John-Hunter Nemechek, plans to expand to three chartered cars for 2026 and beyond. New statement On Wednesday, RWR responded with the following statement: 'This lawsuit distorts the actual facts and is a misguided attempt to tarnish our reputation. RWR has negotiated in good faith and operated with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. We are confident that the truth will prevail and look forward to swiftly resolving this matter through the proper legal channels.' In the lawsuit, LMC takes aim at RWR's performance and viability, as the team sits last in points among chartered teams with driver Cody Ware. Advertisement "At the exact same time that Legacy has charted a path forward, RWR has flagged and flailed in the rear," it reads. Later on, it states that RWR is "strapped for cash" and that they have "recently faced mounting financial pressures." RWR also owned a second charter, which they are currently leasing to RFK Racing. Read Also: Legacy Motor Club's "patience has run out", filing lawsuit against Rick Ware Racing
NBC Sports
02-04-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Legacy Motor Club sues Rick Ware Racing over NASCAR charter purchase deal
Legacy Motor Club filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Rick Ware Racing, alleging that RWR is backing out of an agreement to sell one of its charters to the team. The lawsuit was filed in North Carolina Superior Court in Mecklenburg County. Legacy Motor Club seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief. In court documents, Legacy Motor Club states that in October 2024 it began to look for a third charter to expand its operation for the 2026 season. Legacy Motor Club owns two charters, which are used by the No. 42 team of John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 43 team of Erik Jones. Rick Ware Racing has two charters. It leased one charter to RFK Racing for this season. That charter is aligned with RFK's No. 60 team of Ryan Preece. Rick Ware Racing uses its other charter for the No. 51 team of Cody Ware. In court documents, Legacy Motor Club states that it learned that a charter owned by Rick Ware Racing 'was on the market for purchase.' The complaint states that 'strapped for cash, and unable to compete at a Cup Series level by its own admission, RWR needed to sell one of its two Charters. So, on the morning of January 6, 2025, Legacy's CEO Calvin 'Cal' Wells III met with RWR's representative — Rick Ware, and his broker T.J. Puchyr — to strike a deal. They did. On March 3, 2025, Legacy and RWR executed a Charter Purchase Agreement. '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 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.' The Athletic, citing unnamed sources, stated Rick Ware Racing believed the agreement would be done for the 2027 season and that Legacy changed the year to 2026 without alerting RWR officials. A spokesperson for Legacy Motor Club told NBC Sports that the team had no comment.
New York Times
01-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
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)
