As revealed in a recently unsealed court filing, Rick Ware Racing has filed a countersuit against Legacy Motor Club. 

The two organizations are in conflict over the sale of a charter from Ware to Legacy Motor Club, of which Jimmie Johnson became the majority owner earlier this year. Legacy Motor Club first sued Rick Ware Racing in April, alleging Ware backed out of the sale. 

It has since come to light that there is a dispute over which charter (each one is assigned a number) was for sale. Ware owns two charters, the No. 27 and No. 36 charters. One of the charters is currently being leased to RFK Racing, and the other is used for Ware’s primary team, for which his son, Cody, competes. 

The 28-page countersuit, dated June 4, shows, “There exists an actual and justiciable controversy between the parties regarding the correct sale charter and the terms under which that charter would be conveyed. The Agreement entered between the parties identified Charter No. 36 as the sale charter for a purchase prize of $45 million.

“Legacy has repudiated the Agreement by… claiming the Agreement was actually for Charter No. 27, seeking to enforce a sale of Charter No. 27 (including but not limited to filing a lawsuit), and refusing to perform the parties’ agreement for sale of Charter No. 36. This is a substantial alteration and breach of the parties’ agreement. RWR is entitled to an order declaring that Legacy has repudiated any agreement between the parties and any claim to Charter No. 36.”

It was Charter No. 36 that Ware agreed to sell. The company would then compete with Charter No. 27 next season.

However, Ware alleges that the Agreement correctly identified Charter No. 36 as being sold, even though there were errors and misstatements of facts in the Agreement. One of the biggest was that the sale would be for 2025 when it should have been 2026.

Furthermore, the countersuit says that Legacy “started taking the position” that it intended to purchase Charter No. 27 after the two sides had discussed and agreed on Charter No. 36. Ware said he never agreed nor offered to sell Charter No. 27 because it “would mean the end of RWR.”

The two sides met during the Las Vegas race weekend in March to discuss the deal, during which Legacy Motor club again claimed to have purchased Charter No. 27. The organization, approximately a week later, sent Ware in a letter, through counsel, “demanding that RWR ‘close the transaction as agreed’ or else Legacy would ‘see you in court.’

“Multiple times since the parties executed the Agreement, RWR has attempted to return the non-refundable $750,000 deposited provided by Legacy.” Those attempts were allegedly rejected, but Ware remains willing to return the deposit.

Ware is seeking that Legacy’s claims be dismissed with prejudice, and they recover nothing; the court declares the Agreement invalid; the costs of this action be taxed against Legacy; Ware recovers attorneys’ fees and costs; and Ware be granted other and further relief the Court deems justified.

Ryan Blaney’s first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series came at Pocono Raceway in June 2017 when he was one of the fresh faces in the sport.

Eight years later, he comes back to Long Pond as not only the defending race winner but also one of the most established stars in NASCAR.

Blaney is obviously one to watch in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400. He won the Cup series in 2023, finished second last year, and sits in seventh in the standings with a win and six top-5 finishes.

Now, he returns to the so-called Tricky Triangle, where he not only won in 2017 and last year, but also 11 top-12 finishes in 15 races.

“Pocono means a lot to me, being able to get my first Cup win there and winning there again seven years later,” the 31-year-old Blaney said. “I have a lot of friends and family in that area, and they love to come out to the race every single year. So, there are a lot of good things around Pocono, and I can’t wait to get back there.”

Does he have an edge at one of the most unique tracks in the sport?

“I hope so,” he said. “It’s always nice to go back to places that you’ve had success at. Things change from year to year and week to week, but when you have success at tracks you’ve won at pretty recently, you have a pretty decent notebook to use.

“You see where we were in terms of car setup and have a base of what we like,” Blaney added. “And then you learn things throughout the year, and you adjust a little bit. And as a driver, when you win at these places, you have a pretty good understanding of what you need the car to feel like and drive like to be successful. So all of those things add up and you just hope you’re able to utilize them when the weekend comes.”

Blaney said there was a definite difference between where he was at as a driver in 2017 when he was driving for the Wood Brothers Racing team and last year, when he was part of Team Penske.

“Both wins were very exciting, and you appreciate every single win,” he said. “But a lot happened in between that first win in 2017 and last year’s win. It was kind of cool. It was a full-circle moment, and it timed out really neat because it happened the year after we won the Cup title. My wife’s family is from just outside Philly, Conshohocken, so to be able to celebrate with them and have that moment in Victory Lane was really cool. It’s always neat to have family there, especially ones who really didn’t grow up going to the racetrack all the time.

“Last year’s win was definitely different than the first one, and I’ve been fortunate to see how far we’ve come from the first one.”

Blaney, who is from Hartford Township, Ohio, is mostly happy with the season he’s having and how the Cup series is progressing.

He is coming off a 14th-place finish in Mexico City, where the Cup series made its debut last week. He said it has been an “up and down year with some misfortune and more DNFs than I’d personally like to have.

“I’ve had some blown engines and have been getting caught up in some wrecks, and those kinds of things stink,” he added. “But at the end of the day, I feel like our team has been running really, really well. I look at it from the point of our speed being good. It’s also is our team operating how we should? Our we communicating the right way? Are we doing the best job we can on the weekends? And I feel like we’ve been doing that. So that part I’m really proud of, and it was nice to get our win in Nashville.”

Consistency has been at the cornerstone of Blaney’s rise to the upper echelon of the circuit and his ability to contend for a title every year.

“It has been nice the last two years to have a shot at the title in the last race,” he said. “Winning it in 2023 was great, and then we came up just short last year.  Even before that, getting into the round of eight multiple times and just missing out on the championship four was something to take pride in. It’s tough to do. It’s tough to go through that nine-race gauntlet to keep moving on and give yourself a chance.

“But I’ve been really proud to be with a group that is as consistent as we are, and that’s all you can do — try to be up there every year and try to compete. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”

This weekend’s race is not on network television. It can only be seen on the Amazon Prime streaming service, and NASCAR continues to explore new platforms and ways to reach fans.

The same is true of the in-season tournament in the Cup series, a takeoff on what the NBA has been doing the last two years.

“I think Amazon Prime has done a great job and I have really enjoyed them coming on the scene,” Blaney said. “I applaud them for the job they have done in putting on these races and explaining these things in certain ways. The cast they have, whether it’s in the booth or on the pre- and post-race shows, has been really good.

“What’s nice with them is that there is no time window you have to fit. There’s no time limit. They have full rein of what they want to do and they can go long with the post-race show and talk to the winner and the other drivers. As a fan, I’d like to have the chance to watch the race afterwards, and with Amazon Prime, you can do that.”

As for the in-season tournament, which begins with the next race in Atlanta, Blaney said: “It’ll be fun and it’s for $1 million. That’s a big incentive. Hopefully, the fans will enjoy watching it, and it will give them something else to pay attention to. There will be a little race within the race. I don’t see anything negative about it. There’s nothing bad that can come of it.

“In our sport, it’s usually not one versus one. It’s always one versus 40, or how many cars are in the race. This gives us a chance over the five weeks of this tournament as we go from 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 2 to 1 to go head-to-head. And we’re going to be seeded just like the NCAA Tournament in March Madness. It should be fun.”

Niece Motorsports has announced a two-race deal with Josh Bilicki, which will put him behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet at Lime Rock Park on on June 28th and the Charlotte Roval on October 3rd.

Bilicki, who has over 100 starts in the Cup Series, has run just eleven races in the Truck Series.

“I’m excited to join Niece Motorsports and feel like this is a great opportunity for all of us,” said Bilicki in a release from the team. “I haven’t raced in the Truck Series in a few years now, and the starts I made were for a really small team, so I’m excited to race for a team capable of racing for the win. That’s a goal of mine, and every year, I want to be in equipment that I feel can win. This is an opportunity that we could capitalize on, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we fought for the win in both races.”

Josh Bilicki, DGM Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Trim-Tex Drywall Solution will back the effort along with non-profit organization, Lemons of Love, which works closely with cancer patients to deliver care packages.

“Josh has been a great ambassador for Trim-Tex since 2011″, said Joe Koenig, CEO of Trim-Tex. “We’ve proudly supported him from his amateur racing days, through professional sports car racing to NASCAR. We’re proud to have Josh represent us on the track and look forward to cheering on the No. 44 at Lime Rock.”

The No. 44 team has utilized a variety of drivers this year including Bayley Currey, Conner Jones, Matt Gould, and Cup star Ross Chastain. The team’s best result of the year came at Charlotte Motor Speedway where Chastain finished second.

After a thrilling inaugural event in Mexico City last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series returns stateside with Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 at the historic Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen punched his 2025 Playoff spot with a dominating victory on the Mexico City road course last weekend, the 10th driver to earn a bid by virtue of a win. There are 10 regular season races remaining now to set the 16-driver Playoff field.

Back on the grid this week is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who was awarded a championship waiver after missing the Mexico race to be home for the birth of his son. The driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota is the winningest driver in Pocono Raceway history. Hamlin earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono in 2006 and his seven wins are the most for the perennial championship contender at any single track on the schedule.

To that end, Hamlin is the only repeat winner in the last eight Pocono races — hoisting a trophy three times in that stretch. His JGR team has won a series-best six of the last 10 Pocono races.

As with Hamlin, defending race winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney earned his career first victory at Pocono — in 2017.

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who finished 14th at Mexico City, said this summer’s race lineup, in particular, is enjoyable because of the varying tracks. From the inaugural Mexico City road course race, to the 2.5-mile three-turn Pocono track to the Chicago street race and Sonoma, Calif., road course in just the next month.

“It’s a fun part of the schedule where you’re going to very different places each week, and I think teams really enjoy that — at least I enjoy it because it really switches it up and keeps it fresh,” said Blaney, who claimed his first win of the season three weeks ago at the 1.33-mile Nashville oval.

“It can also be frustrating if you’re not very good at those places. You could have a stretch of some bad weeks. Hopefully, we’re not on that boat, but I like this part of the schedule. There’s a lot of different things going on this summer.”

There are eight former Pocono winners in the field. And three of the last five race winners are still looking for their first trophy of the 2025 season — Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (2021), Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (2022) and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott (2023).

Elliott — who was declared the 2023 race winner when first and second place drivers Hamlin and Busch were disqualified following post-race inspection — leads all drivers in points earned at Pocono in the Next Gen car era.

His teammate, NASCAR Cup Series’ championship leader William Byron boasts the best average finish (9.36) at the track. Defending race winner, Blaney joins four-time Pocono winner Busch as the only other multi-time Pocono winners.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champ Elliott is coming off his best finish (third place at Mexico City) of the season — his second top-10 in the last six races. Bowman turned in a stellar fourth-place showing in Mexico City.

Busch was involved in an early race accident and finished last in the 37-car field in Mexico. The two-time series champion has only a single top-10 — eighth at Michigan — in the last eight races. But he is a four-time winner at Pocono — a win tally second only to Hamlin’s among this weekend’s field. From 2016-21 he had nine top-10s in 10 races, including four wins and a runner-up finish. He hasn’t had a top-10, however since his win in 2020.

This is the last of three races to set the seeding for the In Season Tournament that will start with the June 28 night race at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway.

Practice followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying starts at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain started from pole position last year.

–By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media

Cam Waters, 30, currently competes full-time in Supercars where is sits second in the 2025 championship standings. But he will head stateside for the upcoming NASCAR Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park — the first time the track has hosted a national-level NASCAR race. 

He will pilot the No. 66 for ThorSport Racing, and not for the first time. Waters made his NASCAR Truck debut at Martinsville Speedway last year, starting 22nd and finishing 30th after getting collected in a late-race crash. He made his second start with the team at Kansas Speedway a few weeks later, starting 20th and finishing 19th.

He also ran the 2024 Cup race at Sonoma with RFK Racing, but a mid-race wreck left him with a 35th-place finish.

“I am genuinely excited to be heading back over to the USA to race at Lime Rock Park with the ThorSport operation,” said Waters in a release from the team. “They are a truly great team with an incredibly successful racing background in the NASCAR Truck Series, and I had a heap of fun with them last year in the two races I contested. Lime Rock is a fast and flowing road course, which I feel I’ll be very well-suited to, and I can’t wait to hit the track in my No. 66 Ford F-150. I want to thank everyone at ThorSport – Duke, Rhonda, and Allison Thorson. I’m grateful for Ford Performance and everyone else who has helped make this happen. Make no mistake, I’m going after the win.”

This will be his first NASCAR Truck race on a road course, which should be far more comfortable for him after running two Truck races on unfamiliar ovals. While former Supercars champions Marcos Ambrose (from Australia) and Shane van Gisbergen (from New Zealand) have both won multiples races in the Cup and Xfinity Series, no driver from Oceania has ever won a Truck Series race.

Rev up your engines and throw on your favorite vintage race jacket as NASCAR Night presented by NASCAR Hall of Fame rolls into Cook Out Summer Shootout, Tuesday, June 24. The special night is a full-throttle tribute to motorsports, blending the rising stars of grassroots racing with the star power of NASCAR’s top series.

Fans can expect edge-of-their-seat action across three Bandolero divisions and five Legend Car categories as drivers go wheel-to-wheel under the lights. Watch as rising stars like Keelan Harvick, Brexton Busch and Jake Bollman battle on the frontstretch quarter-mile before Cup Series heavyweights take the stage. A number of drivers – some of whom came up through the Legends ranks before becoming household names – are already making waves. Kyle Busch has scored two wins in the first three rounds and Bubba Wallace has powered into the top three in back-to-back weeks. Adding to the buzz, NASCAR Mexico winner Shane Van Gisbergen and international standout Scott McLaughlin are turning heads in their Summer Shootout debuts, lighting up the Dilling Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electrical division.

Off the track, the energy stays high with NASCAR-themed games like Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame and Driver Number Match, where bragging rights and big prizes are on the line. On the way in, fans can check out a 704 Honda Club car meet-up in the Fan Zone, featuring custom rides of all makes and models, making the perfect pit stop for any car enthusiast.

Fans rocking NASCAR gear will get $5 OFF their ticket at the gate. Adding to the excitement, one lucky fan will take home FOUR tickets and track passes to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s fall playoff showdown, the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 on Sunday, Oct. 5.

ABOUT COOK OUT SUMMER SHOOTOUT:

Celebrating its 32nd season, the Cook Out Summer Shootout is a 10-race showcase of speed, featuring eight racing divisions of Legend Cars and Bandoleros. Races are held each Tuesday night under the lights with championship points on the line all summer long.

TICKETS:

Tickets are just $10; kids 12 and under get in FREE. Fans who bring a canned food donation will receive $2 off admission as part of Blue Cross NC’s “Drive Out Hunger” initiative. For tickets, schedules and more details about all the happenings at Charlotte Motor Speedway, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/tickets.

KEEP TRACK:

Follow all the thrilling Cook Out Summer Shootout action at Charlotte Motor Speedway on X, Facebook and Instagram..

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