Rick Ware Racing leased out one of their two charters to RFK Racing, which expanded from two cars to three, ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, leaving them with only one full-time entry this year.
Cody Ware is the full-time driver of the No. 51 Ford, but in each of the season's first two seasons, the team still opted to field the No. 15-turned-No. 01 Ford for Corey LaJoie. LaJoie successfully qualified for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and led laps before returning to run the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But the No. 01 Ford is not on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas; the only non-chartered (open) car on the entry list is the No. 87 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for Connor Zilisch.
Rick Ware Racing running only one car, first time in seven years
As a result, Sunday's 95-lap race around the 20-turn, 2.3-mile (3.701-kilometer) Austin, Texas road course is set to be the first race since 2018 in which Rick Ware Racing have only fielded a single car.
The team operated at least two charters each year from 2019 to 2024, peaking at four in 2021 before scaling back to two the following season.
Further starts for LaJoie have not yet been confirmed for the 2025 season, but he is expected to return for several other races. He hasn't competed part-time since 2018, when he drove for TriStar Motorsports.
He competed full-time for Go Fas Racing in 2019 and 2020 before spending the next three-plus seasons with Spire Motorsports. Before the 2024 season ended, he was effectively "traded" from Spire to Rick Ware's team for Justin Haley. But while Haley was confirmed full-time for his new seat for 2025 as well, that was not the case for LaJoie, who ultimately lost out on the No. 51 Ford to Ware.
The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix is set to be shown live on Fox from Circuit of the Americas beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 2. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!