A third-generation racer who came up through sportscars and Lamborghini, then spent years building his NASCAR record with his father's team before going full-time in the Cup Series.
Cody Ware, son of team owner Rick Ware, is an American driver whose best Cup Series result came with fourth in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. He has raced for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series since 2017, and in 2025 he ran every race of the season.
Cody Ware is an American driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing and runs part-time in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. He is a third-generation racer and the son of team owner Rick Ware. His career has taken in sports car racing, Lamborghini and Ligier prototypes, a Le Mans entry and a single IndyCar race before NASCAR became his main focus.
How did Ware start out in sports car racing?
In 2014 Ware raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series and won Rookie of the Year honours. In 2019 Rick Ware Racing formed an Asian Le Mans Series programme with Ware and Mark Kvamme as drivers of a Ligier JS P2. On their first outing at the Shanghai International Circuit they had missed qualifying and had only two laps of practice, yet they finished second in the LMPS Am class and 14th overall.
In November 2019 Ware announced he would race at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours for EuroInternational. The following month he and co-driver Gustas Grinbergas finished fifth overall at the Asian Le Mans race at The Bend Motorsport Park, and they took the LMP2 Am class trophy. That August he made his GT4 America SprintX debut at Sonoma Raceway. He finished fifth overall and was third in the Silver class for Dexter Racing.
In 2021 he was among the LMP2 drivers for RWR Eurasia at the 24 Hours of Daytona, alongside Austin Dillon, Salih Yolu and Sven Muller. In January 2024 he drove a Ligier JS P320 LMP3 in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge for Rick Ware Racing with Ave Motorsports, finishing third in the first race and eighth in the second.
A third-generation driver who won Rookie of the Year in Lamborghini racing and later earned his best NASCAR finishes with his father's team.
Where did Ware race in the O'Reilly and Truck series?
Ware made his O'Reilly Series debut in August 2014 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He started 26th and finished 15th for RWR, and over the next five seasons he drove for a string of smaller teams, among them MBM Motorsports, McLeod's operation, Team Kapusta and Mike Harmon. In 2019 he was replaced at the Charlotte Roval by Stefan Parsons after feeling unwell from a damaged coolbox in his car.
In 2020, back with RWR's reformed Xfinity operation, he ran the Charlotte Roval and took seventh, his first top-ten finish in that series. In 2021 he drove seven Xfinity races for SS-Green Light Racing with Rick Ware Racing, with a best finish of 15th at Mid-Ohio. The 2026 Echopark Speedway race brought him back to the series in the number 30 for Barrett-Cope Racing, his first O'Reilly start since 2021.
His Truck Series career began in 2015, when he joined MAKE Motorsports full-time and competed for Rookie of the Year honours. In May that year he left the team to attend college full-time, with aspirations of a pre-medical degree, and Travis Kvapil took his seat. He returned to the Truck Series in 2017 with RWR on a part-time basis.
How did the Cup Series debut go?
Ware first tried to qualify for a Cup race at Sonoma in June 2016, driving for Premium Motorsports, and failed to make the field. He joined RWR's Cup programme in 2017 and made his debut at Atlanta, starting and finishing 39th after retiring on lap 74 with steering problems.
The 2017 season was disrupted. He withdrew from the Dover race after 283 of 406 laps because of back pain, and he left Pocono after 35 laps for the same reason. He stayed out of the car at Michigan when the team could not find a replacement driver in time. At Darlington he drove a car painted like the Days of Thunder film car, with Pray for Texas logos that supported Hurricane Harvey relief.
Darlington also brought a wreck with Matt DiBenedetto and A. J. Allmendinger, followed by a public dispute between Ware and DiBenedetto on social media. Ware later described that period as one of the biggest setbacks of his career, and he kept away from social media for the rest of that season.
How did the 2019 to 2021 Cup seasons go?
In 2019 he ran thirteen Cup races, his busiest programme before the 2021 full season, including the Daytona 500, where he and teammate B. J. McLeod crashed on pit road and finished 39th. At Sonoma he was forced out on lap 64 when broken air conditioning caused carbon monoxide poisoning. His only Cup start in 2020 came at Talladega, where he finished 19th, his first top-20 result in the series. Many front runners crashed late in that race, and Ware crashed on the final lap himself but still took 19th.
On January 18, 2021, RWR announced that Ware would run the full 2021 Cup season in the number 51. The year brought contact with teammate James Davison at Martinsville, which led the team to threaten to park him. Carbon monoxide poisoning sidelined him after the Darlington race, and Garrett Smithley substituted at Richmond.
What were the 2022 and 2023 seasons like?
In 2022 he started the Daytona 500 in the number 51 and finished 17th. At Sonoma the car failed pre-race inspection four times, which earned an L1 penalty, a start at the back of the field and a deduction of 20 owner and driver points. Crew chief Billy Plourde was suspended for four races after a ballast was lost in practice at Watkins Glen.
The Daytona 500 that year, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, produced his career-best sixth place, and his first top-ten finish in the Cup Series. At Texas he hit the turn four wall on lap 168 and then the pit wall, sustaining an impacted ankle fracture, and he missed the Charlotte Roval race as a result.
In 2023 he finished 14th at the Daytona 500, then announced he would miss the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol for a personal matter. On April 10 he was arrested and charged in Iredell County, North Carolina, with felony assault by strangulation and a misdemeanour assault on a woman. NASCAR suspended him indefinitely, and RWR used various drivers for the next races. The charges were later dropped, and NASCAR reinstated him on December 12, 2023.
How did Ware's Cup career develop after the suspension?
In 2024 he returned at Talladega in the number 15 for RWR, his first NASCAR race since the suspension. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 that year gave him a career-best fourth place, his second top-ten and his first top-five result in the Cup Series.
He returned full-time to the Cup Series for 2025, driving the number 51 for RWR and also taking the number 15 in the All-Star Open. At Daytona that year he led a career-high 23 laps and finished 20th. For the first time in his career he raced all 36 races of a Cup season.
Did Ware race in IndyCar?
He did, once. In 2021 he was interested in a part-time IndyCar schedule for Dale Coyne Racing and tested at Texas Motor Speedway, but a lack of sponsorship led to the Indianapolis 500 entry being withdrawn. His one IndyCar start came on June 15, 2021, when he debuted in the number 52 car at Road America. He finished 19th and on the lead lap.
Career results by series
| Season | Series and team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | O'Reilly Series, RWR | 15th at Mid-Ohio on debut |
| 2015 | Camping World Truck Series, MAKE Motorsports | Left mid-season for college |
| 2017 | Cup Series, RWR (No. 51) | Debut at Atlanta, 39th |
| 2019 | Cup Series, Rick Ware Racing | Thirteen starts, Daytona 500 39th |
| 2020 | Cup Series, RWR | 19th at Talladega |
| 2021 | Cup Series, RWR (No. 51) | Full-time season |
| 2022 | Cup Series, RWR (No. 51) | Sixth at Daytona, first top ten |
| 2024 | Cup Series, RWR (No. 15) | Fourth in the Coke Zero Sugar 400, career best |
| 2025 | Cup Series, RWR (No. 51) | Led 23 laps at Daytona, 20th |
