Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR team sues ex-Spire boss TJ Puchyr for 'tortious interference' over RWR charters

Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR team, Legacy Motor Club, had been in a legal battle with the Rick Ware Racing team over a Charter dispute. Things have taken a new turn now as the team has sued TJ Puchyr, who is one of the founding members of Spire Motorsports and had decided to purchase the Rick Ware Racing team last month. The dispute is due to the second charter of Rick Ware Racing, which is currently leased to the RFK Racing team.

According to Jimmie Johnson's team, they claim that they had an agreement to buy the charter from Ware's team for the next season. T.J. Puchyr, who recently came into the picture, has plans to extend the team into a three-car Cup Series team and remains confident that the second charter will come back with his team by 2027 and support his plans for expansion.

The latest development in this case has been that the Legacy Motor Club has sued Puchyr for tortious interference of contract, as reported by NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass.

Bob Pockrass

@bobpockrass

LINK

Legacy, who is suing Rick Ware Racing over deal to purchase RWR charter (which charter & if sale for 2026 or 2027 disputed), has sued TJ Puchyr, who now plans to buy both RWR charters, for tortious interference of contract. Puchyr, former Spire co-owner, brokered Legacy-RWR deal.

T.J. Puchyr had made his comments about the lawsuit earlier in an outing and expressed his opinions on the ongoing matter.

"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. 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,” T.J. Puchyr said via AP.

The Charters which are the first requirement for racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, have created quite a havoc this year with legal battles of various teams all around the grid. Jimmie Johnson's Legacy Motor Club has sued Rick Ware Racing, while Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have sued NASCAR.

---

Jimmie Johnson shares that he is not enjoying the legal battle with Rick Ware Racing

Jimmie Johnson, who co-owns the Legacy Motor Club, has been involved with Rick Ware Racing over a charter dispute. Things have heated up even further after ex-Spire boss, T.J. Puchyr, decided to purchase the team.

The seven-time Cup Series champion is not enjoying the legal battles and recently expressed his desire for a settlement between both parties.

"I'm just sitting back watching it all play out, learning a lot about the legal process and the amount of injunctions and appeals that can take place. It's a big game of chess, and I'm watching all the strategy that goes into it all. I would love to see a settlement of some kind. I really don't think that getting into a knock-down, drag-out lawsuit is good for anybody,” Johnson told the media.

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson- Source: Imagn

Johnson, who has financial backing from Knighthead Capital, is certain that he will acquire the Ware charter in some way, expanding his team to three Cup Series cars.