Rick Ware Named to West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2025
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 9, 2024) – A diverse motorsports career that began more than 40 years ago and continues to this day has earned racing team owner and Los Angeles native Rick Ware a place in the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
Induction is set for March 13 in Las Vegas in conjunction with the NASCAR race weekend March 14-16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Joining Ware among the Class of 2025 are AJ Allmendinger (Los Gatos, California), Chuck Gurney (Oakland, California), Davey Hamilton (Nampa, Idaho), Jeff Jefferson (Naches, Washington), Justin Marks (Menlo Park, California) and Boris Said (Carlsbad, California).
“It’s truly an honor to be a part of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2025,” said Ware, owner of Rick Ware Racing (RWR). “I’m a proud Californian and growing up on the West Coast put me right in the heart of racing and hot-rod culture. For me, there was no better place to be, and to join such an esteemed group of racers who came from the same region of the country as me is an incredible, full-circle moment.
“I’ve been to some of the most iconic venues in North American motorsports, first as a fan with my dad, then as a driver, and then as a team owner. Riverside, Long Beach, Pomona, Irwindale, Del Mar, Ontario, Laguna Seca, Ascot… I look back and realize just how blessed I’ve been. And then to make a career out of motorsports and to be recognized for all the time, energy and effort we put into everything we do at RWR, really means a lot. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Hall’s nominating committee.”
Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for nearly five decades. It began at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt.
Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Ware’s home track, Riverside International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries forced Ware out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership.
In 1995, RWR was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Progressive American Flat Track and FIM World Supercross Championship.
RWR is coming off one of its best seasons in 2024 where its NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican won the prestigious U.S. Nationals and rider Kody Klopp won the AMA American Flat Track 450cc class championship.
Millican’s victory was RWR’s fourth NHRA Top Fuel win since entering NHRA in 2023. Klopp’s title secured RWR’s third championship. RWR rider Shane McElrath won the 2022 FIM World Supercross 250cc class title. RWR’s first championship came in sports cars, specifically the Asian Le Mans Series, where co-drivers Cody Ware and Gustas Grinbergas won the 2019-2020 LMP2 class title.
“We do this because we love it,” Ware said. “Racing is hard, really hard. So, you’ve got to have a passion for it. The hard times make you appreciate success so much more, and our success comes from our people. We have excellent people at RWR and I’m proud of their skills and their spirit. This honor is directly attributable to them, and I’m very thankful.”
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport. It was founded to preserve the history and heritage of the sizeable role West Coast stock car and motorsports figures have played in the ever advancing world of professional racing.
To obtain media credentials for coverage of the 24th West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame dinner and awards, please contact Owen A. Kearns at 661-342-2983.
Sources: Mike Arning/True Speed Communication