After Cody Ware’s arrest for felony assault, NASCAR suspends Cup Series driver Cody Ware

NASCAR suspended Cup Series driver Cody Ware Monday after Ware’s arrest in North Carolina for felony assault.

Ware was arrested Monday by the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony assault by strangulation and a misdemeanor count of assault on a female. Ware missed Sunday night’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway for what his Rick Ware Racing team said was a “personal matter” and was suspended shortly after The news of his arrest was made public.

Ware, 27 years old, made his Cup Series debut in 2017. He has raced in the majority of Cup Series races in both of the previous two seasons. He drives for his father’s backmarker team and has an average finish outside the top 30 in 97 career starts. Ware’s only top 10 came in the crash-filled 2022 summer race at Daytona when he finished sixth.

The 2022 season was Ware’s best season in NASCAR. His average finish was 28th. He was scheduled to race all 36 races until he was hurt in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Ware sustained an ankle injury after his car crashed head-on into the wall outside of Texas Motor Speedway. After that, the throttle became stuck due to the damage caused by the previous hit.

Ware has also made starts in NASCAR’s Xfinity and Truck Series and dabbled in the IndyCar Series in 2021. Two seasons ago, he made three IndyCar starts with a best finish at Road America of 19th.