Spire Motorsports cofounder T.J. Puchyr has agreed to purchase Rick Ware Racing, the Associated Press reported June 26.
Puchyr, who launched Spire in 2018 alongside Jeff Dickerson, will take control of Ware’s team in 2026, with plans to expand the organization in the future. Puchyr later sold his shares of Spire to Dan Towriss.
“I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team,” Puchyr told the AP. “I believe in the France family and the direction of the sport and I want the rest of the shareholders and industry to know that I believe the charters are worth $75 million or more.”
Current team owner Rick Ware will remain with the organization as a partner, with Ware’s son Cody continuing to pilot the team’s No. 51 entry in 2026. The organization will also keep all of their current employees on board next season.
Puchyr and Ware expect to retain the team’s second charter (which is currently leased to RFK Racing) despite Legacy Motor Club suing the organization and claiming that it entered an agreement to purchase the charter in 2026. Puchyr then wants to buy an additional charter to make the team a three-car organization by 2027.
Rick Ware Racing fields the No. 51 Ford full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Cody Ware. Ware currently ranks 36th in the standings, with a season-best finish of 24th at Phoenix Raceway March 9.
Spire Motorsports fields three full-time entries in the Cup Series, with Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley behind the wheel. They currently rank 20th, 22nd and 29th in the standings, respectively.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.
Interesting. Now I see why RWR was fighting so hard about the charter “leased” to Legacy. I don’t know who is right legally, but common sense says it’s likely RWR agreed at least informally, then pulled back when Puchyr pulled up with the money truck. But, if all Legacy had was a verbal or handshake agreement, they can and should lose the lawsuit.
I don’t have any side on this…I just find it an interesting little saga. There has already been a temporary injunction granted then thrown out, so it’s a bit of a winding road. Will be watching to see what comes of it all.
Legacy was buying one of RWR’s charters, not leasing it. And from what I read it sounded like there was a written contract between RWR and Legacy. Legacy was supposed to be buying one of RWR’s charters for $40 or $45 million. The issue became which RWR charter was Legacy buying? Legacy thought they were buying Cody Ware’s charter, but RWR is claiming it’s the one leased to RFK through 2026. It seems the written contract wasn’t clear about which charter was being sold.
With one of their charters tied up in litigation, I don’t know how RWR could legally enter into a contract to sell their charters along with the team, before the court case is resolved. After reading Ware now has a deal to sell his team and charters, I agree with you that it sure sounds like he’s trying to renege on the Legacy deal so he can sell the complete package of team and charters. How much less would a Cup team be worth with only one charter, or even worse, none?
This is a sketchy situation. Appears like RWR has sold a ‘leased’ charter twice so far. I would be very cautious doing business with this bunch.
This does reveal that ‘charters’ have value in the market. Somewhere between 40-80 million?
The ‘little’ guy is out of the NASCAR game going forward. The charters getting
a guaranteed starting spot was very short sighted on NASCAR part. This limits
the number of Charters they can sell. But since they have a monopoly, they can change it.