Rick Ware Racing
Founded: 1995 (as Ware Racing Enterprises; RWR name since 2004) Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina Owner: Rick Ware | Manufacturer: Chevrolet (Cup, 2026)
Overview
Rick Ware Racing is one of the most unusual operations in professional motorsports — a multi-series organization that simultaneously campaigns teams in the NASCAR Cup Series, the zMAX CARS Tour, the NHRA Top Fuel class, Progressive American Flat Track, and the FIM World Supercross Championship. No other team in NASCAR's garage area has anything close to that breadth.
The organizational roots go back to the 1960s, when Rick and his father John Ware competed in SCCA events under the Ware & Sons Racing banner. Rick transitioned from driver to full-time team owner in 1995, and the team has operated in some form of NASCAR competition ever since.
NASCAR Cup Series (2026)
For 2026, Rick Ware Racing made a significant strategic shift — switching from Ford to Chevrolet and entering a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing. The partnership includes engines prepared by ECR Engines and technical support from one of the sport's legacy organizations.
- No. 51 — Cody Ware (crew chief: Billy Plourde)
The RCR alliance gives RWR access to Chevrolet engineering resources it didn't have as a Ford team, and it places the team within the broader RCR ecosystem that also supports Jordan Anderson Racing in the OARS.
CARS Tour Connection
What makes Rick Ware Racing relevant to Grand National Today isn't just the Cup program — it's the CARS Tour. RWR is listed among the organizations competing in the zMAX CARS Tour, connecting the team to the short-track ecosystem that GNT covers most closely. Rick Ware's son Carson Ware has competed in CARS Tour Pro Late Model events, and the family's involvement in grassroots stock car racing runs deeper than the Cup Series entry might suggest.
Carson Ware also competes part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 30 Chevrolet for Barrett-Cope Racing — keeping the Ware name present across multiple tiers of stock car competition.
Multi-Series Operations
The scale of Rick Ware Racing's cross-discipline portfolio is genuinely unusual:
- NASCAR Cup Series — No. 51 Chevrolet (full-time)
- zMAX CARS Tour — Late Model Stock / Pro Late Model entries
- NHRA Top Fuel — Defending NHRA Winternationals winner (2025 Pomona)
- Progressive American Flat Track — Active program
- FIM World Supercross — Active program
This is not a Cup team that dabbles in other series. It's a motorsports conglomerate that happens to have a Cup charter.
Why RWR Matters to GNT
Rick Ware Racing is one of the few NASCAR Cup organizations with a direct connection to the CARS Tour paddock. That bridge between national-series and short-track racing is the territory Grand National Today covers. The RCR technical alliance, the manufacturer switch, and Carson Ware's development path all create touchpoints between the Cup garage and the touring-series world that defines GNT's editorial scope.