Rick Ware Racing

The roots of Rick Ware Racing extend back to the 1960s, when Rick Ware and his father John Ware competed under the name Ware & Sons Racing, initially in karting and later in the SCCA and IMSA series. In 1983, the team won the Rookie-of-the-Year award in the California Sports Car Club with Rick Ware at the helm, followed by multiple titles in SCCA and IMSA. In the 1990s, the organization first operated as Ware Racing Enterprises before being officially renamed Rick Ware Racing in 2004 and making its first attempts in the NASCAR Cup Series, including a failed qualifying attempt at Sonoma in 1998.

A special chapter in the team’s history is the relocation of its shop. For a long time, RWR was based in Thomasville, North Carolina, until the team moved to Mooresville in spring 2020, during the coronavirus-related racing pause between March and May. The move coincided with the acquisition of Premium Motorsports, which added the No. 15 car as a fourth full-time entry and required more space. Before the 2023 season, another relocation followed to Concord, North Carolina, directly on the grounds of RFK Racing, with which RWR has since maintained a technical alliance.

Rick Ware Racing achieved its broadest lineup between 2020 and 2021, when the team fielded four full Cup charters with numbers 15, 51, 52, and 53 at various times. Drivers included Cody Ware, Justin Haley, and Kaz Grala, complemented by high-profile guest starts from Formula 1 World Champions such as Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve. From 2022 onward, the team refocused on two full-time charters, No. 15 and No. 51, to concentrate more on competitive quality rather than mere presence.

The present era of Rick Ware Racing is marked by another technical transition. Under team founder and team principal Rick Ware and team president Robby Benton, the organization switched from the Ford Mustang to Chevrolet for the 2026 season and entered into a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and ECR engines. Competitive director Tommy Baldwin Jr., who had led technical development since 2023, parted ways with the team by mutual agreement in July 2026. Primary driver in the No. 51 Chevrolet remains Cody Ware, son of the team founder, who is tasked with further establishing the brand for upcoming races, while RWR hopes the new RCR partnership will provide another step forward in Cup Series competition.