NASCAR Team Owner and Southern California Native Rick Ware To Feature American Red Cross on No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Feb. 2 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 24, 2025) – With devastating wildfires impacting thousands of Southern California residents and the urgent need for assistance growing by the day, NASCAR Cup Series team owner and Los Angeles native Rick Ware is helping raise awareness to aid the American Red Cross and its ongoing response.
Along with Rick Ware Racing (RWR) team partner Mighty Fire Breaker, a leading provider of environmentally safe and sustainable solutions for proactive wildfire defense, RWR will feature the Red Cross on its No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse driven by Cody Ware in the Feb. 2 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The car will amplify the fundraising efforts of broadcast partner FOX with GO.FOX/REDCROSS emblazoned on the roof. Visitors to the FOX website can donate to the Red Cross to help people affected by the 2025 California wildfires.
The endeavor is a personal one for Ware, who has seen the imagery of areas where he grew up and later worked ravaged by one of the worst fire disasters on record.
“Like everyone, we’re seeing all the footage and reports from Los Angeles and we want to do something to help, but the size of it is so big, you don’t even know where to start. But there’s one group that’s always ready, no matter the scale of the disaster, and that’s the American Red Cross. Their work goes above and beyond anything one person could do, and we want to promote what FOX is already doing to drive more Red Cross donations. Beyond my own personal donations to the Red Cross, generating more awareness for their needs is the next best thing we could do,” Ware said.
“I grew up in L.A. and first worked for a courier company, making deliveries all over the areas that have been devastated by fires. Daily, I went between Century City, Brentwood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, cut through Sunset Boulevard, over to the Palisades, down to PCH, up to Topanga Canyon. All of those areas are completely scorched and gone. It’s just devastating, and it affects you differently when you grew up there.
“I saw what FOX was doing to help the Red Cross. We’re going to be on FOX next weekend with the Clash, and that’s a moment where we can help too. Our racecars are rolling billboards that drive awareness and increase sales. It’s the right time to do exactly that for the Red Cross, and promoting what FOX started is the best way to do it.”
Appropriately joining RWR at the Clash is Mighty Fire Breaker, a partner that joined the team at the start of the 2024 season.
Mighty Fire Breaker has a patented, EPA-certified fire inhibitor called CitroTech®. It requires only small amounts of water and remains active even when dry, providing enhanced protection against fire threats. CitroTech is also a 100 percent sustainable product, earning EPA Safer Choice Certification in 2022, meaning it is safe for the environment, specifically around homes, schools, children and pets.
“Our hearts go out to all the families and individuals affected by these fires, and like Rick Ware Racing and so many others, we want to help,” said Steve Conboy, founder of Mighty Fire Breaker. “We’re committed to supporting our community during this challenging time by providing our advanced fire prevention technology to help safeguard homes and lives. And the commitment being displayed by everyone at the Red Cross is phenomenal. They’re helping so many people in need, but that need will continue for many more months, and even years. If you’re able to give back, give back to the Red Cross.”
The Red Cross is working 24/7 with partners throughout California to ensure people have the support they need in the face of the wildfires. The organization is providing food, shelter, emotional support, recovery planning and financial assistance to those impacted.
Combined, these fires have consumed nearly 40,000 acres, killed at least 27 people, destroyed more than 12,300 structures, displaced thousands from residential communities, and are likely to be the costliest fire in United States history.
About Rick Ware Racing:
Rick Ware has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years. 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 Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver’s seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that competes fulltime in the elite 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 (WSX).
