Judge Halts Sale of Rick Ware Racing Team Amid Charter Dispute
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A North Carolina judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing Rick Ware from selling his NASCAR team. The decision comes amid a legal dispute over one of his charters.
Legacy Motor Club and Rick Ware Racing had previously agreed to the sale of one of Ware’s two charters. These charters, similar to franchises in other sports, guarantee a car’s entry into all NASCAR races and determine the team’s compensation.
Jimmie Johnson, seven-time NASCAR champion and Legacy owner, was looking to acquire the charter to expand his team. A payment of $45 million was agreed upon to Ware for one of his charters.
Ware already had an agreement with RFK Racing to exchange charters in 2026, under another lease agreement. Ware argued that, because of this agreement, he agreed to sell a charter to Legacy in 2027.
Legacy filed a lawsuit, alleging that Ware signed a contract for a sale in 2026, which would leave him without operations, given that he had already promised a charter to RFK. Meanwhile, Ware closed a deal with the broker who negotiated the charter agreement with Legacy to sell all his NASCAR equipment for $150 million.
Judge Clifton Smith of Mecklenburg Superior Court granted the injunction to Legacy, preventing Ware from selling the organization to T.J. Puchyr, co-founder of Spire Motorsports and now a motorsports consultant. Puchyr was the intermediary in the disputed charter sale agreement.
Smith’s order extends a previous temporary restraining order and establishes that Legacy demonstrated the likelihood of success in its case, that it would suffer irreparable losses if a court order was not issued, and that the potential harm to Legacy outweighed any potential harm to Ware.
The trial is scheduled for January, but Legacy has filed a second lawsuit against Puchyr for interfering with its agreement with Ware. Legacy has also terminated its consulting agreement with Puchyr.
