Legacy Motor Club and Rick Ware Racing settled their NASCAR charter dispute on September 19, 2025, with RWR agreeing to sell and transfer a Cup Series charter to Legacy on confidential financial terms. The two teams filed a joint dismissal in Mecklenburg County Superior Court on November 20, 2025, permanently releasing all claims and counterclaims, and the $5 million bond Legacy had posted earlier in the case was released.1Courthouse News Service. Rick Ware Racing and Legacy NASCAR Charter Dispute Comes to an End
The deal came about four months before a January 2026 trial was set to begin. Rick Ware said the agreement gave both teams a “clear path forward,” and Legacy majority owner Jimmie Johnson said it let all parties “focus on our business operations and future goals.”2Jayski. Legacy Motor Club, Rick Ware Racing Reach Charter Agreement
How the Fight Started
On March 3, 2025, Legacy Motor Club (formally RPAC Racing, LLC) and Rick Ware Racing signed a Charter Purchase Agreement priced at $45 million, at the time the highest reported price ever paid for a single NASCAR charter. Legacy paid a $750,000 non-refundable deposit.3RACER. Rick Ware Racing Files Countersuit Against Legacy Motor Club
The teams then disagreed on the two most basic terms of the deal: which charter had been sold and when it would transfer. Legacy said it had bought Charter No. 27 for the 2026 season. RWR said the contract covered Charter No. 36 and did not take effect until 2027, and argued that transferring No. 27 for 2026 would leave RWR with no charter to race under. An existing arrangement complicated things: one of RWR’s charters was already leased to RFK Racing for 2025, and NASCAR rules allow a charter to be leased only once during the seven-year charter agreement period.4SI. Rick Ware Racing Countersuing Legacy Motor Club Over Charter Sale
Legacy sued on April 1, 2025, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, alleging RWR was trying to back out.5Courthouse News Service. Legacy Motor Club v. Rick Ware Racing Complaint RWR countersued on June 4, 2025, arguing the signed agreement contained “errors and misstatements of fact,” including 2025 date references that should have read 2026, and asked the court to declare the agreement invalid. RWR also said it had tried to return the $750,000 deposit several times and Legacy had refused.3RACER. Rick Ware Racing Files Countersuit Against Legacy Motor Club
The dispute widened in July 2025, when T.J. Puchyr, the consultant who had helped broker the original Legacy-RWR contract, reached a separate deal to buy Rick Ware Racing outright for $150 million.6ESPN. Puchyr to Buy Rick Ware Racing, Plans to Build Three-Car NASCAR Team Legacy posted a $5 million bond and won a preliminary injunction on August 22, 2025, blocking RWR from selling or transferring either of its charters while the case was pending.7ESPN. Judge Blocks Rick Ware Racing From Selling NASCAR Team The settlement followed less than a month later.
Where the Charter Goes in 2026 and 2027
Under the settlement, Legacy acquired the charter but agreed to honor an existing lease between Rick Ware Racing and RFK Racing. The charter runs with RFK’s No. 60 team in 2026, then returns to Legacy for 2027.8RACER. Ware-LMC Charter Transaction Keeps 2026 Looking the Same but Sets Up 2027 Shuffle Scenario
For 2026, Legacy fields two chartered cars: the No. 42 Toyota driven by John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 43 Toyota driven by Erik Jones, with Johnson competing in select races.9NASCAR. 2026 Season Preview: Legacy Motor Club In March 2026, Johnson confirmed a third full-time entry is coming for 2027, telling NASCAR.com, “Without question, we will have a third car on the grid next year.”10NASCAR. Jimmie Johnson on Legacy Motor Club Expansion Legacy later announced the third entry will carry the No. 84, with Johnson himself moving to the No. 13 for the 2027 Daytona 500. A full-time driver for the No. 84 has not been publicly named.11Yahoo Sports. Legacy Motor Club Reveals Car Number for Third Entry
What the Settlement Means for Rick Ware Racing
Rick Ware Racing continues in Cup competition in 2026 as a one-car team operating on a single charter. The team switched manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet for 2026 and formed a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.12Motorsport.com. Rick Ware Racing to Switch Manufacturers for 2026 NASCAR Cup Season The $150 million sale of the whole organization to Puchyr, which the injunction had blocked, did not go through.
The Puchyr Case Is Not Over
The settlement resolved Legacy’s claims against Rick Ware Racing, but Legacy’s separate lawsuit against T.J. Puchyr and his firm Rucus Racing is still active in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Legacy filed an amended complaint in February 2026 alleging tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, and violations of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Legacy contends Puchyr used confidential information from his time as a Legacy consultant to pursue his own purchase of RWR’s charters, and that his public statements interfered with Legacy’s ability to line up sponsors for a third car.13Courthouse News Service. Legacy Motor Club v. T.J. Puchyr Amended Complaint
In April 2026, Puchyr and Rucus Racing filed counterclaims alleging Legacy breached the consulting agreement by failing to pay a 7.5% commission on a Dollar Tree sponsorship deal and by terminating the contract without providing a required 10-day cure period. Rucus also claims Legacy used the threat of litigation to block Puchyr’s purchase and secure the charter at a lower price, arguing Legacy suffered no real damages because it ultimately acquired the charter for less than the $150 million Puchyr had offered.14Courthouse News Service. T.J. Puchyr’s Company Punches Back at Legacy Motor Club With Counterclaims No trial date had been set as of April 2026.
Was $45 Million a Lot or a Little?
When the deal was signed in March 2025, $45 million was the highest reported price for a single NASCAR charter. NASCAR introduced charters in 2016 to guarantee each chartered entry a spot in every Cup race, and early transactions closed in the low single-digit millions. A 2016 sale from Michael Waltrip Racing went for between $1.25 million and $3.25 million. By 2022, charters were trading between $6 million and $15 million. When Stewart-Haas Racing closed after 2024, its three charters sold for a combined $84 million, and a Live Fast Motorsports charter sold to Spire Motorsports for $40 million.15Jayski. NASCAR Charters
The market moved again after the settlement. In December 2025, NASCAR settled a separate antitrust lawsuit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, agreeing to make charters permanent through so-called “evergreen” provisions and granting teams a share of international media revenue and league governance for the first time.16NASCAR. NASCAR Lawsuit Settlement: 23XI, Front Row Industry executives told Jayski that charter values jumped “overnight” after the antitrust settlement, with some projections placing future charter prices between $50 million and $100 million.17Jayski. Charter Values May Have Doubled With Lawsuit Settlement Against those numbers, the price Legacy paid RWR looks less like a record and more like a floor.