Judge Grants LMC Temporary Restraining Order Over RWR
A Superior Court Judge for Mecklenburg County granted LEGACY MOTOR CLUB a temporary restraining order in its case against Rick Ware Racing on Wednesday, April 9.
The TRO rules that Rick Ware Racing is restrained from selling, leasing or otherwise encumbering the charter in question for at least 10 days or until agreement by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and Rick Ware Racing.
According to a Rick Ware Racing team spokesperson, the TRO was agreed upon by RWR, and the team feels the restraining order will help calm the tension between the two parties throughout the court proceedings.
“RWR agreed to the TRO. It serves as a calming measure by letting Legacy know that RWR has no intention of transacting while we vindicate our legal rights in court,” the spokesperson said.
The temporary restraining order stems from a complaint filed by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court on April 1 in reference to a business deal with Rick Ware Racing.
In the heavily redacted court documents released last week, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB alleged that Rick Ware Racing had agreed to sell one of its two NASCAR Cup Series team charters to them at the conclusion of the 2025 season. LMC further alleged that once the agreements had been signed by both parties, and had been initialed on each page, "for good measure," Rick Ware Racing attempted to pull out of the agreement and refused to finalize the deal.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is seeking to have Rick Ware Racing fulfill the deal, which was allegedly made by both parties.
The court documents released on Wednesday outlined five findings of fact and conclusions of law, which led to the temporary restraining order being approved.
According to the document, the judge ruled, "The Plaintiff [LEGACY MOTOR CLUB] has shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its case; Plaintiff is likely to sustain irreparable loss unless a temporary restraining order issues; Issuance of a temporary restraining order is necessary for the protection of Plaintiff's rights during the course of litigation; The potential harm to Plaintiff should an injunction not issue outweighs the potential harm to Defendant should an injunction issue; and a temporary restraining order will issue '(1) if a Plaintiff is able to show a likelihood of success on the merits of his case and (2) if a plaintiff is likely to sustain irreparable loss unless the injunction is issued, or if, in the opinion of the Court, issuance is necessary for the protection of a plaintiff's rights during the course of litigation.'"
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB will have the chance to fight in court to obtain a third team Charter for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The team currently fields the Chartered No. 42 and 43 entries in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as a part-time No. 84 entry.
In the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported that its believed LEGACY MOTOR CLUB agreed to a purchase price of $45-million for the Charter from Rick Ware Racing, which if true, would be a record-high value obtained in the sale of a Charter since the creation of Team Charters in 2016.
Rick Ware Racing fields the Chartered No. 51 NASCAR Cup Series entry, and heading into the 2025 season, RWR leased out its No. 15 Charter to the No. 60 RFK Racing team.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.