Cody Ware

**Cody Shane Ware** is an American professional auto racing driver. A third-generation driver with experience in stock car, sports car, and open-wheel racing, he is the son of NASCAR team owner Rick Ware. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series, driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang for family team Rick Ware Racing.

## Career

### 2016-2017: First Starts

In June 2016, Ware attempted to make his debut in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No. 55 Chevy for Premium Motorsports, but he failed to qualify because of mechanical issues and Premium was unable to get a backup car for the event.

He joined RWR's Cup Series program, driving the No. 51 part-time in 2017. He made his Cup debut in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, driving the No. 51 Chevy. Ware started and finished 39th, retiring from the race on lap 74 with steering problems. Ware would later return for the races at Dover and Pocono but both weren't good as during the Dover race, Ware withdrew from the event after 283 of 406 laps after suffering from back pain. The following race at Pocono, he left the race after completing 35 laps, again for back problems.

#### The Darlington Incident

He returned to the No. 51 for Darlington's Bojangles' Southern 500, where he drove a car painted like Cole Trickle's Mello Yello car he drove throughout the 90's. Ware's No. 51 featured logos saying "Pray for Texas", with RWR producing merchandise of the car and donating all proceeds to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. On lap 157, Ware was involved in a wreck with Matt DiBenedetto and A. J. Allmendinger, with Ware and Dibenedetto expressing anger and frustration on the radio with Ware yelling, "What the f\*\*\* was he doing?", as Dibenedetto said on his radio, "Hey, go tell the #51 to just quit racing."

After the race, Ware and DiBenedetto argued on Twitter over responsibility for the wreck. When DiBenedetto faulted Ware for the incident, the latter replied by falsely accusing him of infidelity, causing a firestorm that led to Ware deleting his social media for the rest of the season. Ware would not any other starts for the rest of 2017.

### 2018-2020: Partical Runs

In 2018, Ware made his return to the Pepsi Cup in the no.51 Chevy at the AAA 400 Drive for Autism, however his Pepsi Cup return ended early in a crash. He would then return to drive RWR's new no.52 car at Sonoma, but the fuel pump quit after 42 laps causing Ware to finish 36th. Ware would then participate in the fall Talladega event and the second to last race of the year at ISM Raceway.

Ware increased his Cup schedule in 2019 to 13 races, which also included the Daytona 500; in the race, he and RWR teammate B. J. McLeod crashed while several cars were entering pit road, causing him to finish 39th. At Sonoma, he was forced to exit the race on lap 64 when broken air conditioning caused him to suffer carbon monoxide poisoning. In September, he intended to race at the Charlotte Roval, but was replaced by J. J. Yeley as he continued to feel unwell from his damaged coolbox in the previous day's Xfinity race.

In 2020, Ware would only participate in the Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Towards the end of the race, due to a lot of front runners being involved in crashes, Ware was racing in the top ten until he crashed on the backstretch on the final lap, but was able to finish 19th for his first Pepsi Cup top 20.

### 2021-Present: Full Time Season

On January 18, 2021, RWR announced Ware would run the full 2021 Cup season in the team's No. 51 Chevrolet with sponsorship by Nurtec ODT.

Ware's first highlight came during the 2021 Instacart 500 at Phoenix, when he and Anthony Alfredo crashed on lap 87. Later during the 2021 Blu Emu Maxiuim Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville, Ware was involved in an incident with teammate James Davison: on lap 37, contact from Ware's right front fender into Davison's left rear quarter panel sent the latter spinning into the outside wall. The race was postponed to the next day after weather, and radio communications between Ware and his crew chief revealed displeasure towards Davison, with Ware threatening to turn him if he encountered him again. After the team threatened to park Ware, the two raced for the rest of the event. However Ware would end up spinning two times later in the event.

Then in May, Ware was going to participate in the Indianapolis 500 in RWR's no.52 IndyCar with Garrett Smithley placed in the 51 Chevy for the race. although Ware completed rookie orientation, a lack of sponsorship forced the entry to be withdrawn. Ware would then run the 600 in the No. 53 that was originally going to be by J. J. Yeley, who was moved the Mnt. Dew Series event. Ware would later not participate in the Ally 400 at Nashville because he was making his IndyCar debut at Road America. The later in the year, Ware would then miss the fall Richmond event, and the Bristol Night Race after after he was sidelined with carbon monoxide poisoning after racing a wrecked car during the 2021 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington.