Rick Ware Racing countersues Legacy Motor Club over charter dispute

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CN) — Rick Ware Racing filed a countersuit against the team that’s suing it over a contract dispute, claiming that Legacy Motor Club falsely claimed it had been sold a racing contract for the 2026 season.

Legacy Motor Club sued Rick Ware Racing in April, claiming that the racing company backed out of the sale of a charter agreement for the 2026 season — a contract between teams and NASCAR that grants teams guaranteed entry into every NASCAR Cup Series points race, and which operates similarly to a team franchise.

A Charlotte court initially granted Legacy a temporary restraining order to prevent Rick Ware from selling or transferring Charter No. 27, but dissolved that in May after finding that Legacy had failed to establish the facts and legal elements necessary for a preliminary injunction.

Rick Ware Racing owns two NASCAR charters, Charter No. 27, which it purchased in 2018, and Charter No. 36, which it purchased in 2020. Ware’s son, Cody Ware, is racing on Charter No. 36 during the 2025 season, and will race Charter 27 in 2026. Charter No. 27 is currently being leased to RFK Racing.

“Should RWR be forced to sell Charter No. 27 for 2026, it would have no charter under which to race and would go out of business. For this reason, RWR would never have agreed (and unequivocally did not agree) to sell Charter No. 27 in advance of the 2026 season,” Rick Ware Racing said in a newly unsealed court filing.

In the countersuit, Rick Ware Racing says that when Legacy approached it to purchase a charter, it was clear it could only sell a charter for the 2027 racing season. Early drafts of the contract between the parties “reflected the importance of RWR having Charter to race under in 2026,” Rick Ware Racing said, including a notice that said Rick Ware intended to race Charter No. 27 in 2026.

In February, there was some confusion between the parties over the charter number, and another purchase draft was sent to Rick Ware that identified Charter No. 36 as the sale charter, which Rick Ware confirmed was correct. The parties signed the agreement, which the racing team said contained “several errors and misstatements of fact” and included references to “2025” that should have been “2026.”

After the agreement was signed, Rick Ware said, Legacy Motor began insisting that the agreement concerned Charter No. 27.

Rick Ware Racing said it has tried multiple times to return a non-refundable deposit of $750,000 that Legacy provided, but Legacy has refused to accept it. The sale itself placed the price of the charter at $45 million, the highest amount for which a charter has ever been sold.

Legacy’s suit, Rick Ware Racing claims, names Charter No. 27 as the charter sold, “despite the fact that RWR never once offered Charter No. 27 as the sale charter.” In the public, redacted version of the complaint, the charter number is not specified.

Rick Ware Racing emphasizes that this dispute means the contract must be invalid as there was no “no meeting of the minds” and that Legacy has forfeited its right to Charter No. 36.

It is asking the court to declare the agreement invalid and issue an order declaring that Legacy does not have a claim to Charter No. 36. Rick Ware also asked the court to dismiss Legacy’s complaint.

When Legacy’s suit was first filed, a representative from Rick Ware told Courthouse News that the lawsuit “distorts the actual facts” and that they are confident the team will prevail in court.

Representatives for Legacy Motor Club did not immediately return requests for comment.

Follow @SKHaulenbeek Follow @shaulenbeek.bsky.social