Chevy-Bound: Rick Ware Racing Announces New Technical Alliance with RCR
If you’ve been paying attention to the back half of the garage lately, you know that Rick Ware isn’t a man satisfied with just showing up. For years, the narrative around his Cup Series program was about survival and filling the grid. But that narrative has been shifting, and on Monday, the team made a move that signals they are done with simply participating. They want to compete.
In a massive shakeup for the 2026 season, Rick Ware Racing will officially sever ties with Ford to join the Chevrolet camp. But the badge on the car’s nose is only half the story. The real headline here is the firepower coming with it: a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and ECR Engines.
A New Era for Rick Ware Racing
For the past four seasons, the Rick Ware Racing haulers have been stocked with Ford Mustangs. It’s been a steady relationship, but in this sport, “steady” often means stagnant if you aren’t finding new speed. The move to the Bowtie brigade represents a fundamental philosophical shift for the organization. Rick Ware, the team owner who has seen it all since his first Xfinity entry back in ’95, was candid about the motivation.
It’s about resources. It’s about support.”Chevrolet has always set a high bar with its people, its performance, and its passion for racing,” Ware said. He noted that this partnership gives them the “resources and support to make real progress on the race track.”When a team owner talks about “real progress,” read between the lines. They are tired of running 30th. They want to be in the mix on Sundays.
Strengthening the Arsenal with RCR
The switch to Chevy is significant, but the alliance with Richard Childress Racing is the game-changer. In the modern Next Gen era, being an island is a death sentence. You need data, and you need friends. By aligning with RCR, Rick Ware Racing is plugging into a data stream that has produced championships and Daytona 500 victories.
Perhaps most importantly, this deal includes ECR Engines. In the horsepower wars, ECR is a heavyweight. We saw what Chevy did in 2025: capture the manufacturer’s championship, their 44th overall, and win 15 Cup races. That is the kind of pedigree Rick Ware Racing is buying into.
Pat Suhy, the NASCAR Competition manager for GM Motorsports, framed it as a win-win, noting that Rick Ware Racing’s “drive to keep improving aligns with our dedication to performance.” It’s corporate speak, sure, but it validates that GM sees potential in Ware’s operation that goes beyond just adding car count.
Cody Ware Returns to the Wheel
Amidst all the mechanical and corporate changes, there is stability in the cockpit. Cody Ware will return to pilot the flagship No. 51 Chevrolet in 2026. Cody’s journey has been one of grit. He’s been the soldier for this team through thick and thin.
His 2025 campaign showed flashes of what’s possible when the equipment holds up, securing a season-best 13th-place finish at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. He finished the year 36th in the standings, but with ECR horsepower under his right foot and RCR chassis notes on the pit box, the expectation is that those numbers need to climb.
Translating Multi-Discipline Success to Sunday
Here is the frustrating reality that eats away at racers like Rick Ware: He knows how to win. This isn’t a team that lacks the DNA for victory. They just haven’t found it in the Cup Series yet. Look at their trophy case. They aren’t struggling elsewhere. Rick Ware Racing has been a juggernaut in other disciplines. They claimed the 2019-20 LMP2 championship in the Asian Le Mans Series. They bagged World Supercross titles with Shane McElrath.
They are winning in NHRA Top Fuel with Clay Millican and dominating in American Flat Track. The organization knows the taste of champagne. The goal now is to stop treating the NASCAR Cup Series as a separate beast that accepts mediocrity and start applying the same winning standard to stock cars. “We’ve won in NHRA, American Flat Track, World Supercross, and the CARS Tour, and we want to elevate our NASCAR performance to the level of our other programs,” Ware stated.
Looking Ahead to 2026
The new alliance will face its first firing test very soon. The 2026 season kicks off with the Busch Clash at the historic Bowman Gray Stadium on February 1. For Rick Ware Racing, this isn’t just another season opener. It’s a debut. It’s the moment they roll out a Chevrolet powered by ECR, prepared with RCR data, and try to prove that they belong in the conversation with the big dogs. The days of being an afterthought are over. Now, the clock is ticking to prove the investment was worth it.
