Judge denies Legacy MC's request to restrict Rick Ware Racing charter

A North Carolina Superior Court judge denied the request from Legacy Motor Club to prevent Rick Ware Racing from potentially selling the charter that is the foundation of a lawsuit between the two Cup Series teams.

According to NBC Sports, the hearing lasted three hours in front of Judge Clifton H. Smith, and resulted in the court denying the injunction request from Legacy Motor Club. Legacy sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Rick Ware Racing from selling the charter because it claims both parties agreed to a transaction in March.

NBC Sports reported that the charter transaction was ‘roughly $45 million,’ which is a record for such an agreement in the eight-year history of the ownership model.

Where this gets complicated is the two sides disagreeing over which of Rick Ware Racing’s charters was the one at the source of the purchase agreement.

Again, according to NBC, the attorney representing Legacy, Keith Forst, says the contract regarded ‘Charter 27,’ which is owned by Rick Ware Racing but loaned out to RFK Racing this season for Ryan Preece and the No. 60 team. A single charter can be loaned out once per seven year charter agreement period.

While largely speculated, the legal proceeding confirmed that Rick Ware Racing has a separate agreement with RFK to loan ‘Charter 36’ next season. Forst says the contractual agreement used the wrong charter number.

Robert Marcus, representing Rick Ware Racing, argued in court that the team always intended to sell ‘Charter 36.’ Forst and Legacy said ‘notwithstanding the misidentification of the number’ that it was ‘crystal clear’ that they were negotiating over ‘Charter 27.’

Remember that each charter has different values based on its three-year rolling average. ‘Charter 27’ has more value based on its performance than ‘Charter 36.’

Marcus and RWR stated that a March 3 text message presented to the court as evidence that this matter concerned ‘Charter 36.’ He said that Legacy went to NASCAR a day later to notify the Sanctioning Body that an agreement was reached for ‘Charter 36.’

This would allow ‘Charter 27’ to be returned to Rick Ware Racing next year and to be used however it sees fit by the organization. To that point, Marcus argued that selling ‘Charter 27’ would put Rick Ware Racing out of business since ‘Charter 36’ is being leased to RFK Racing next season.

Previous reports have stated that Rick Ware Racing would seek to sell ‘Charter 36’ after it is returned from RFK starting in 2027.

"RWR is gratified by the Court’s decision in this case. It’s good to be vindicated," said the team in a statement.