CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina Superior Court judge denied a preliminary injunction Wednesday that Legacy Motor Club sought to keep Rick Ware Racing from possibly selling the charter that Legacy MC states it purchased.
The hearing, scheduled for one hour, lasted nearly three hours before Judge Clifton H. Smith.
At issue is what charter Legacy MC purchased from Rick Ware Racing and when they would have access to it.
Among details revealed in court:
Judge Smith noted that Legacy MC purchased a charter from Rick Ware Racing for “roughly $45 million.” That makes it the highest price for a charter.
The agreement calls for Rick Ware Racing to sell Charter No. 36 (currently used by the No. 51 car of Cody Ware). However, Legacy MC’s attorney noted that the wording in the contract described the charter to be purchased as Charter 27, which also is owned by Rick Ware Racing but is being leased to RFK Racing this year for the No. 60 car of Ryan Preece.
An attorney for Rick Ware Racing said two weeks after the agreement was signed the two sides met at Las Vegas where Legacy MC offered to pay RWR $5 million more than the orginial purchase price to purchase Charter 27 so it could have three chartered cars next season.
It was also noted in court that RFK Racing has an agreement with Rick Ware Racing to lease Charter 36 (the one being used by Cody Ware this year) next season. Teams are allowed to lease a charter once every seven years.
A key issue Wednesday in court was the contract and the confusion created by it.
Keith Forst, an attorney who represented Legacy MC, said in court that the wrong charter number in the agreement was a result of what Rick Ware told the attorney writing the contract.
Robert Marcus, attorney for Rick Ware Racing, said in court that Ware always intended to sell Charter 36 (being used by Cody Ware this season in the No. 51) and didn’t intend to sell the charter used by RFK Racing.
“I don’t think this contract makes any sense,” Marcus said in court “ … It’s chalk full of mistakes.”
Forst said the contract suggests otherwise.
“It is crystal clear that this purchase agreement covers (Charter) 27 and not 36, not withstanding the misidentification of the number,” Forst said in court. “… We wanted the charter that is being currently leased (Charter 27).”
Marcus went through a timeline in the court of key moments in the deal.
He stated that a text on March 3 shows Ware’s understanding that the contract is for Charter 36 and that the deal was signed.
He stated that on March 4, Legacy MC went to NASCAR to inform officials they had an agreement to purchase a charter. Marcus said in court that “on March 4, they knew that Charter 36 is the charter that was meant to be used by RFK Racing next year.”
He noted the March 15 meeting in Las Vegas when Legacy MC upped its offer by $5 million to get Charter 27 to race it next year
Marcus said that “selling Charter 27 puts Rick Ware Racing out of business,” noting that it would leave RWR without a charter for next season since there is an agreement with RFK Racing for it to lease Charter 36 next season.
The two sides were in court Wednesday because Legacy MC had a temporary restraining order granted but wanted to make it a preliminary injunction to ensure that Rick Ware Racing didn’t sell Charter 27 elsewhere.
After the judge’s decision, Ware said in a statement: “RWR is gratified by the Court’s decision in this case. It’s good to be vindicated.”
Cal Wells, CEO of Legacy Motor Club, who was in the courtroom, said of Wednesday’s decision: “Part of the journey.”
