Rick Ware Racing faces contempt warning as Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR team gets a major grant

Jimmie Johnson's Legacy Motor Club has made a step forward in it's ongoing charter dispute with Rick Ware Racing. A North Carolina court has granted LMC the right to depose RWR after recent revelations of a potential team sale, as such a move could directly impact the contested charter agreement.

The two teams have been locked in a legal battle over the terms of a charter lease since April. While LMC argues they had a deal in place to lease RWR's charter in 2026, the latter claims the agreement was for 2027, and that RFK Racing has already committed to it's 2026 charter.

However, recent developments have shed light on RWR's possible sale to Spire Motorsports. Notably, T.J Puchyr, one of the owners of Spire, was the one who initially brokered the lease agreement between RWR and LMC.

As such, the potential sale has thrown a wrench in RWR's legal standing, as the judge has warned the team of facing contempt of court for misrepresenting their intentions, but they've maintained that no binding agreement exists with LMC. Last month, Rick Ware filed a countersuit against the Jimmie Johnson owned team for falsely reporting the sale of their charter. Their statement on the same read:

"Should RWR be forced to sell Charter No. 27 for 2026, it would have no charter under which to race and would go out of business. For this reason, RWR would never have agreed (and unequivocally did not agree) to sell Charter No. 27 in advance of the 2026 season.”

Had the charter deal gone through as planned, Jimmie Johnson would've forked out $45 million in exchange for a third entry in 2026, making it the highest valued charter ever sold in NASCAR.

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Jimmie Johnson reveals his picks for LMC's potential third entry

After switching to Toyota in 2024 and becoming the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club in 2025, Jimmie Johnson has taken bold steps to run a three-car operation in 2026. That said, he recently shared an update of his choices for the third seat.

"When you look through the Xfinity Series, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love. I think you also look through the garage area in the Cup series, and there's some young talent that took early steps to get into vehicles. So there are just questions in my mind, especially wearing my team owner's hat. We're looking to expand to a third car and hope to announce some stuff here in the near future around that. But where to look, it's tough," Jimmie Johnson said via X/Never Settle podcast

While Zilisch has been rumoured to replace Daniel Suarez in Trackhouse Racing, Jesse Love has ties with Richard Childress Racing as their Xfinity Series driver. In addition, he has also made two Cup Start with RCR so far, and has another scheduled bout at Richmond Raceway.

Meanwhile, LMC's John Hunter Nemechek beat his teammate Erik Jones in Round 3 of the In-Season Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, which secured him a spot in the final four matchup at Dover International Speedway.