Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has been making frequent cameos on the race track in the 2024 Cup Series season. His latest appearance was in Las Vegas on Sunday behind the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE. He got to finish the race without getting involved in accidents and crossed the checkered flag in 28th place.
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Regardless of his low-order finishes, the fans have loved watching their beloved star on the race track again. Fortunately, they can be assured that they will be seeing him race in 2025 as well.
He acknowledged his plans during a post-race interview in Vegas and mentioned that he just wants to make sure that his desire to drive doesn’t affect the No. 42 and No. 43 teams in Legacy Motor Club.
Johnson is the co-owner of the outfit and carries a huge responsibility on his shoulders. That sometimes means that he will have to forgo his wants in service of the greater good.
He told Frontstretch, “I’ve thought about it. We’re just trying to make sure that it’s not costing the team anything and it’s not hurting the 42 and 43. We don’t have it put together yet but I’ll be out there a few times at least.”
The veteran racer also said that he is just beginning to get the hang of the Next Gen car. It is quite the possibility that he soon masters it and begins leading races.
Should that happen, the goals of Legacy will start demanding that he races more. That would be the ideal outcome of this situation. But Johnson would rather see one of his drivers reach victory lane than himself.
The biggest issue that Johnson has with the Next Gen car
Asked what causes him concern about the Next Gen car, Johnson had a clear answer. He said, “Where you make speed in this car. For a long, long time – easy in, first one back to the gas — that mentality really worked well with the old generation car. It’s not the case with this car.”
“There’s a much different approach to corner entry and how you roll out the throttle to control the car.” The icon is quite amazed by how sensitive a driver’s right foot has to be to control the car and is just beginning to understand his Camry’s attitude.
He had other reasons to smile at the end of the day. John-Hunter Nemechek secured a ninth-place finish and Erik Jones finished 25th. Legacy Motor Club is a team on the rise and it is all up to Johnson to keep it on that path.
