NASCAR‘s Legacy Motor Club has filed a lawsuit against Rick Ware Racing (RWR) for an alleged breach of a charter agreement. RWR is said to have backtracked on the contract, which reportedly promised to pay a sum of up to $40 million, prompting Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club to seek a restraining order.
NASCAR introduced charters in 2016, which work similarly to franchises. Limited to 36 in a season, they became a means for teams to participate in the Cup Series races. Legacy Motor Club already owns two charters- No. 42 and No. 43 Toyota teams, and it was seeking to add a third for the next season.
Legacy Motor Club claimed in the lawsuit that RWR agreed to sell one charter, but it was now refusing to honor the contract. WCNC reported that through the lawsuit, Legacy Motor Club intends to obtain a temporary restraining order from the court that prevents RWR from selling the charter to another party.
The two teams are said to have held discussions in January, followed by a signing of the charter purchase agreement on March 3. However, Legacy Motor Club now alleges in the lawsuit filed in Mecklenburg County Court on Tuesday, that RWR has failed to comply with the terms of the charter. The Athletic reported the contents of the lawsuit:
“Despite having a binding deal in place, RWR wants to back out. It has told Legacy that it will not, under any circumstances, close the parties’ transaction. Legacy has tried to talk sense into RWR, to no avail. Legacy’s patience has run out. It now brings this suit to enforce its rights and hold RWR to its deal.”
While RWR has not commented on the matter, sources claim that the differences arose when RWR thought that the transfer of the charter to Legacy Motor Club was to take place in 2027, but Legacy allegedly changed it to 2026 without informing RWR or its owner, Rick Ware. RWR became aware of the change after the agreement had been signed, prompting it to cancel the deal.
However, Legacy Motor Club claims both parties were well aware of the timelines since the negotiations began. It added:
“Not only did the parties sign the agreement, they initialed every page for good measure. Indeed, the parties agreement (redacted) has been clear from almost the beginning of the parties’ negotiations.”
Contents of the lawsuit have been redacted, but the report confirms that RWR’s stand was “belied both by the plain text of the agreement and the contemporaneous written communications surrounding the parties’ negotiations.”
The post Legacy Motor Club Files Lawsuit Against Rick Ware Racing Over Charter Dispute appeared first on Newsweek.
