T.J. Puchyr, a former founding co-owner of Spire Motorsports, has reached an agreement to purchase Rick Ware Racing according to a Thursday report by The Associated Press.
The terms were not disclosed but the report stated that Purchyr will retain Ware as a partner and that Ware’s son, Cody, will continue to drive the No. 51 car in the NASCAR Cup Series. As part of the transaction, all current Rick Ware Racing employees will be retained.
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Puchyr and Jeff Dickerson founded Spire Racing in 2018 when they purchased the charter made available from the shuttering Front Row Racing for $6 million. They had immediate success of sorts in winning the rain-shortened race at Daytona in July 2019 with Justin Haley.
Spire Motorsports went through a reorganization last year when Puchyr sold his share of the team to Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, the racing wing of the company that also owns Gainbridge Financial and launched a Formula 1 team with General Motors.
The report states the purchase as a matter of conviction that the charter market in the Cup Series is currently undervalued. In recent years, he has also served as an advisor to teams purchasing charters.
“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.
Rick Ware Racing currently holds two charters, one for the No. 51 car that Cody Ware currently drives and a second that is currently leased out to RFK Racing and its No. 60 team for driver Ryan Preece. Charters can be leased to another team once per agreement period. RWR will also lease out its No. 51 charter to RFK and the No. 60 team next year.
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Legacy Motor Club is currently suing Rick Ware Racing over a charter purchase deal. The team, which is owned primarily by seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, claims that RWR backed out of an agreement to sell.
Rick Ware Racing has filed a countersuit, claiming that any agreement was for 2027 and not 2026 as Legacy alleges. In purchasing the team, Puchyr said he was open to working it out with Johnson.
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.”
