A lot of the headlines recently regarding NASCAR and lawsuits have pertained to the ongoing case that began when 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign the new NASCAR charter agreement late last season.
Those two teams turned around and sued the sanctioning body, claiming that NASCAR and the France family violated antitrust laws, and there was doubt that they would be allowed to continue to compete as chartered teams in 2025.
A judge ruled that they would be allowed to not only compete as chartered teams but do so with third charters, charters they each acquired from Stewart-Haas Racing after the 2024 season, after NASCAR tried to block the transfer of both of those charters. Having said that, the legal process is still unfolding, with things seemingly going in circles as of late.
Now there is a new major lawsuit in the NASCAR world, and it also involves charters.
Legacy Motor Club, which currently run two chartered cars, reportedly had a deal in place to purchase a third charter from Rick Ware Racing. But now they have sued Rick Ware's team, alleging that Rick Ware Racing backed out of the deal despite an agreement having been reached.
Rick Ware Racing fired back, alleging that Legacy Motor Club's lawsuit "distorts the actual facts", setting the stage for another intriguing charter-related legal battle.
RWR spokesman on the Legacy lawsuit against RWR: https://t.co/cN4GAcqYv4 pic.twitter.com/3fvksgGzCe
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 2, 2025
Rick Ware Racing currently have two charters after having run as many as four in the past, though one of those two has been leased out to RFK Racing, which formed a technical alliance with Ware's team in 2023.
As a result, Rick Ware Racing now only run the No. 51 Ford full-time for Cody Ware, rather than both the No. 51 Ford and the No. 15 Ford. RFK Racing run three full-time entries, having added the No. 60 Ford for Ryan Preece this past offseason alongside Brad Keselowski's No. 6 Ford and Chris Buescher's No. 17 Ford.
Legacy Motor Club run the No. 42 Toyota for John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 43 Toyota for Erik Jones.