Lawsuit filed as two NASCAR teams tangle in contract dispute

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CN) — Legacy Motor Club sued Rick Ware Racing in Charlotte court Tuesday, over a contract dispute that would allow Legacy Motor Club to add an additional car to compete in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series.

The crux of the dispute is over charter agreements — contracts between teams and NASCAR that grant teams guaranteed entry into every NASCAR Cup Series points race, and operate similarly to a team franchise.

Each charter secures a spot for a car, and teams are allowed up to three of them. These agreements ensure that teams receive revenue allocations from television, earn proceeds from race advertising and increase their sponsorship opportunities. Teams that don’t have charter agreements have to operate as open teams, and qualify for one of four spots in each race.

Only 36 charters exist, and despite being given out for free to three dozen teams in 2016, their value has skyrocketed and they are now being traded for a market value of $40 million, Legacy said.

Their scarcity is driven by restrictions from NASCAR: a team can lease its charter for one season, but each charter agreement can only be leased once every seven years.

Legacy, which has two charter agreements guaranteeing two cars in the Cup Series races, sought to buy a third for the season from Rick Ware Racing, which it described in its suit as “strapped for cash and unable to compete at Cup Series level.”

The two parties struck an agreement on March 3, 2025, but despite signing the agreement and initialing each page, Rick Ware Racing is now attempting to back out, Legacy claims in its lawsuit.

“Despite having a binding deal in place, RWR (Rick Ware Racing) wants to back out,” said Legacy in its heavily redacted complaint. “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.”

“This lawsuit distorts the actual facts and is a misguided attempt to tarnish our reputation,” said a team spokesperson from Rick Ware Racing. “RWR has negotiated in good faith and operated with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.”

The team is confident it will prevail in court, the spokesperson said.

Legacy asserted that its racing opponent is facing mounting financial pressure, saying that “at the exact same time that Legacy has charted a path forward, RWR has flagged and flailed in the rear.”

Legacy Motor Club is now asking the court to step in, requesting a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against Rick Ware Racing, saying that the racing company risks immediate and irreparable harm after its opponent got “cold feet.”

Should the court not step in and Legacy not be allowed to race an additional car under Rick Ware Racing’s charter, the charter may potentially be ineligible to be traded to any team for several years, if NASCAR recognizes the contract as having used up the charter agreement’s one-season trade per seven years stipulation.

Rick Ware Racing, which held two charter agreements before entering into discussions with Legacy, is only competing with one car in the Cup Series in 2025, driven by Cody Ware, son of team owner Rick Ware.

Rick Ware Racing began entering cars into races with NASCAR in 1998, but first began to compete full-time in 2017. Legacy Motor Club has been racing since 2000 under several different names, and has a roster of three drivers for the 2025 season, including its majority owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson.

At the time of the filing, the 2025 Cup Series is in full swing, having begun in February, with three races scheduled for April and the first playoff race approaching at the end of August. The 2026 season is expected to begin next February.

Legacy also requested that the Charlotte court designate the case as a mandatory complex business case, which may result in the case being moved to business court.

NASCAR has also faced its own legal troubles, with two different teams currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the sportscar racing company, claiming that it violated anti monopoly laws and that racing teams would be able to enter into much more profitable contracts than the charter agreements if there were more competition in the field. NASCAR cross-sued the teams, claiming that the teams, as horizontal competitors, should not have worked together to pressure NASCAR for better agreements.

Attorneys for Legacy Motor Club did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Follow @SKHaulenbeek Follow @shaulenbeek.bsky.social