A high-stakes legal battle has erupted between two prominent NASCAR Cup Series teams — Rick Ware Racing (RWR) and Legacy Motor Club — over the contested sale of a valuable racing charter, with each side claiming the other is in breach of contract and misrepresenting key facts surrounding the agreement.
In April, Legacy Motor Club filed a lawsuit against Rick Ware Racing, alleging that RWR reneged on a signed agreement to sell one of its two NASCAR charters — specifically Charter No. 27 — for the 2026 season. Charters, which guarantee entry into every NASCAR Cup Series points race, function similarly to team franchises, and the alleged deal carried a historic price tag of $45 million, the highest ever for a NASCAR charter.
Initially, a Charlotte court issued a temporary restraining order preventing RWR from selling or transferring Charter No. 27. However, that order was dissolved in May after the court determined that Legacy had not sufficiently demonstrated the facts or legal grounds needed for a preliminary injunction.
Now, RWR has fired back with a countersuit, claiming that Legacy’s lawsuit is based on false premises. According to the newly unsealed filing, RWR asserts it never agreed to sell Charter No. 27 for the 2026 season — a year in which it plans to field a car for Cody Ware using that very charter. RWR currently leases Charter No. 27 to RFK Racing for the 2025 season but has earmarked it for in-house use in 2026.
“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,” the team stated in court documents, via Courthouse News. “For this reason, RWR would never have agreed (and unequivocally did not agree) to sell Charter No. 27 in advance of the 2026 season.”
The countersuit further alleges that when negotiations with Legacy began, it was made explicitly clear that RWR could only commit to a charter sale beginning with the 2027 season. Early drafts of the contract acknowledged RWR’s need to retain a charter for 2026, including specific language indicating Charter No. 27 would remain in use by the team.
However, in February, confusion arose between the parties over which charter was being sold. A revised draft agreement identified Charter No. 36 as the one being transferred — a designation Rick Ware confirmed was correct. Nonetheless, the final contract reportedly included several clerical errors, such as mistaken references to 2025 instead of 2026. After the agreement was signed, Legacy began asserting that Charter No. 27 was the subject of the sale.
RWR contends that Legacy’s continued insistence on claiming Charter No. 27 is unfounded, and that the lack of a clear mutual understanding renders the contract void. The team says it has made multiple attempts to return a non-refundable $750,000 deposit to Legacy, but Legacy has refused to accept it.
The countersuit now seeks a judicial declaration that the agreement is invalid and that Legacy has no claim to either Charter No. 27 or Charter No. 36. RWR is also requesting the court to dismiss Legacy’s original lawsuit.
In a previous statement, a Rick Ware Racing representative told Courthouse News that Legacy’s complaint “distorts the actual facts” and expressed confidence that the team will prevail in court.
Legacy Motor Club has not responded publicly to the countersuit and did not return requests for comment.
As the legal fight escalates, the case threatens to set a precedent in NASCAR’s increasingly competitive charter system, where stakes have never been higher — both financially and competitively — for teams trying to secure their place on the grid.
