Report: Former Cup team owner enters agreement to buy Rick Ware Racing
T.J. Puchyr, a former owner of Spire Motorsports, has entered an agreement to purchase Rick Ware Racing, according to a report Thursday by The Associated Press.
No price was reported on the deal for the NASCAR Cup team. The Associated Press reported that Purchyr will keep Ware as a partner and that Ware's son, Cody, will continue to drive the No. 51 car in the Cup Series. The report also stated that all Rick Ware Racing employees will be retained.
Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson became car owners when they purchased the charter from Furniture Row Racing for $6 million after the 2018 season. They formed Spire Motorsports, which won the July Cup race with Justin Haley in July 2019.
Puchyr sold his shares of Spire last year to Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, The Associated Press reported. The AP reported that Puchyr believes the charters are undervalued. He was involved in Spire's purchase of Live Fast Motorsports' charter for $40 million in 2023.
'I am bullish on wanting to build a three-car team. 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,' he told The Associated Press.
Nate Ryan,
Rick Ware Racing has two charters — one for the No. 51 car with Cody Ware and a second that is being leased to RFK Racing this year for the No. 60 car of Ryan Preece. Charters can only be leased once every seven years. Rick Ware Racing has a two-year deal with RFK Racing to lease both of its charters for one year each.
Legacy Motor Club is suing Rick Ware Racing over a NASCAR charter purchase deal. Legacy Motor Club, which is owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, alleges that Rick Ware Racing is backing out of its agreement to sell a charter to the team. Rick Ware Racing has filed a countersuit, claiming any agreement was for the 2027 season and not the 2026 season as Legacy Motor Club contends.
Dustin Long,
'If anybody deserves a pass it is Jimmie and if he wants to sit down and talk about it like men, I'd entertain the conversation,' Puchyr told The Associated Press.
'I don't think Jimmie has all the facts, doesn't understand the deal we had, and they tried to humiliate Rick publicly. We don't do business that way.'
Rick Ware Racing's No. 51 car ranks last in owner points among the 36 charter teams heading into Saturday night's race at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Puchyr is confident he can help improve the organization's performance.
'I've won at everything I've done at every level and I think we can compete with these guys,' Puchyr told The Associated Press. 'I think we can build it brick-by-brick and it's going to take people, money and time. It's not lost on me that (RWR) is the 36th-place car in the garage, we all see it. But I believe we can make this a competitive organization, even a winner.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
27 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Cavaliers swap Isaac Okoro for former No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball
The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to acquire guard Lonzo Ball from the Chicago Bulls for forward Isaac Okoro according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because the trade can not be finalized until the start of the new league year on July 6. Ball averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 35 games this past season after missing the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns because of a left knee injury. The 27-year old Ball underwent a meniscus and cartilage transplant in his left knee in March 2023 after two surgeries failed to fix an injury he suffered during his first season in Chicago in 2021-22. Ball, the second overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 draft, missed the last two months of the season because of a sprained right wrist. He has one year remaining on his contract with a team option for the 2026-27 season. Cleveland has a need at point guard with Ty Jerome becoming an unrestricted free agent and Darius Garland likely to miss the start of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his left big toe earlier this month. The Cavaliers had the second-best record in the NBA at 64-18 but were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Indiana Pacers in five games. Okoro averaged 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds this past season and is a strong defender who can also shoot well from the perimeter. However, he found his playing time begin to decrease over the season. He averaged 14.2 minutes in the playoffs after logging 19.1 minutes per game in the regular season. Okoro has two years remaining on his contract. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Florida Panthers ‘Thrilled' To Re-Sign Sam Bennett To Big Eight-Year Deal
The Florida Panthers kept Sam Bennett away from NHL free agency. They re-signed the Conn Smythe Trophy winner to an eight-year extension at an $8 million average annual value. Bennett, 29, was projected to be one of the top centers available in free agency if he was unsigned by July 1. Instead, he's not leaving the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. His new deal includes a no-move clause for the first five years of the contract, followed by a limited no-trade clause for the final three years, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. His contract will expire after the 2032-33 season, when he will be 37 years old. Bennett made his intentions clear that he wanted to remain a Panther during the team's post-Cup celebrations. 'I ain't f-----g leaving,' Bennett said into the microphone, referencing Leonardo DiCaprio's famous line from the movie Wolf of Wall Street. Now, Bennett's statement has become a reality, and the Panthers' GM couldn't be happier about keeping on the two-time Stanley Cup champion. 'Sam is a special player who has mastered a unique blend of skill and physicality in his game, becoming one of the most impactful postseason performers of his generation,' Panthers GM Bill Zito said in a news release. 'He played an integral role in our two Stanley Cup championships, earning the franchise's first Conn Smythe Trophy and is a dedicated contributor to our South Florida community off the ice. We are thrilled that he will continue his career with the Panthers.' Out of his 11 years in the NHL, the 29-year-old arguably played his best this past season. He recorded a career-high 51 points in the regular season with 25 goals and 26 assists. However, his playoff performance likely played a big part in his new cap hit. Bennett led the NHL in post-season goals with 15, ending the Cup run with 22 points in 23 appearances. With Bennett being the latest center to sign an extension with his team, the UFA market for a middleman becomes even thinner. John Tavares, Matt Duchene and Brock Nelson were also all pending UFA centers who re-signed with their respective teams. Some pending UFA pivots who remain unsigned include Mikael Granlund and Pius Suter. The Panthers kept Bennett from being possibly the top UFA center by giving him the priciest and longest contract in his career. But Zito can't relax just yet. Left winger Brad Marchand and defenseman Aaron Ekblad also require new contracts before Tuesday's free agency opener, or else they can sign with another squad. Get thelatest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and bysubscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting belowthe article on Copyright 2025 The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd.
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
What to watch for in tonight's NASCAR Cup race at Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. — Christopher Bell, who won the most recent race at what was known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, will have his third different spotter in the last seven races in tonight's Cup race. That's just among the things to watch tonight at newly named EchoPark Speedway. A new eye in the sky Tab Boyd, recently let go by Hyak Motorsports, will make his debut as Christopher Bell's spotter tonight. With the drafting style of racing on the 1.54-mile track, spotters will play a key role. 'It's going to be tough, for sure, getting acclimated at probably one of the most spotter-intense racetracks on the calendar,' said Bell, who starts 28th. 'But Tab has a bunch of experience. … Definitely the first stage or two is going to be a learning curve.' The challenge will be the close racing and how quickly the runs come. Bell will have to know how close Boyd will clear him for openings on the track. A mistake could lead to a multi-car incident. Dustin Long, Bell started the season with Stevie Reeves as his spotter. Reeves had been Bell's spotter since Bell's Cup debut in 2020. Reeves left the team after Bell won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in May. Matt Philpott took over as Bell's spotter for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and also served in that role at Nashville, Michigan, Mexico and Pocono. Boyd was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s spotter when Stenhouse won last fall's playoff race at Talladega. Boyd also was Stenhouse's spotter when he won the 2023 Daytona 500. Stenhouse, who starts 37th, will be in his second race with Clayton Hughes as his spotter. Stenhouse said that Boyd 'gives a lot of information at a pretty high rate of speed, which is a good thing on superspeedways. … I think him and Bell will be no problem.' Team Penske leads the way again For the second consecutive race at this track Team Penske has locked out the front two rows with its three cars and the car of its affiliate, Wood Brothers Racing. Joey Logano will start on the pole. With teammates around him, he should be able to control the race in the opening stage and, possibly, longer. If not him at the front, then maybe it will be Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry (starting second) or Ryan Blaney (third) or Austin Cindric (fourth). Nate Ryan, Those four drivers combined to lead 187 of the 266 laps in the February race here, but it was Christopher Bell winning and Blaney, the top Penske finisher, placing fourth. 'These places race so differently here compared to Daytona and Talladega,' Blaney said. 'I honestly prefer the racing here more than those places. I feel like you can move more up to the field, though the field, than you can at Daytona and Talladega just because handling comes more into play here. 'I think controlling the race here is a little bit tougher possibly than those races (at Daytona and Talladega) because the runs are huge. Guys take them whenever they can get them. So, I honestly think it's tougher to control the lead here. 'If you're at Talladega, let's say, and I got like me and Joey lined up, we can kind of control the pace that we want to run, how we kind of get on each other and push. We can really determine how fast we want to go, and we can kind of like stall the third lane out, make them non-existent if we want to push the pace and get connected and … and we can kind of go back to back with the inside or outside lane. 'Here you can't get connected as much. It's like you might get a shot down the frontstretch, a shot down the backstretch, but it's not like you're shoving a whole straightway for like eight seconds like you do (at Daytona and Talladega). It's very hard to control the lead.' Playoff race duels With 11 different winners, five playoff spots remain via points. Nine races remain in the regular season (including tonight's race). Alex Bowman holds the final playoff spot. He's 20 points ahead of Ryan Preece, who starts fifth. 'I think we're good enough to move up in points if we run how we should,' said Bowman, who starts ninth. 'If we stay where we're at in points, I think you're in a must-win (situation) then. But I think if we run how we should, we should move back up in points.' Bubba Wallace, who starts 24th, holds the next-to-last playoff spot. He's 29 points ahead of Preece. Chris Buescher, who starts 13th, is 38 points ahead of Preece. While there will be much talk about the matchups in the In-Season Challenge, which begins today, how those near the playoff cutline will be worth keeping an eye on tonight.
