Legacy Motorclub co-owner, Jimmie Johnson, had only a few races in his schedule last year, starting with the 65th Daytona 500. However, just as the inaugural street race in Chicago inched closer, a gruesome tragedy scarred Johnson’s family, and the seven-time champion was forced to withdraw from the event.
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During a one-on-one interview with eminent FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass, the veteran racer said, “Last year, when I left for Le Mans, (It was) a short period of time that I was at the track and I went to probably three or four races and sat on the box. And then a tragedy happened and I didn’t attend any more races or drive anymore in ’23.” However, this year is most likely to be different.
Although he admitted that he didn’t have a fair comparison, Johnson felt like his team has certainly evolved over the last year. Impressed with his team’s efforts, the Hall of Famer said, “I felt like at the start of the race at Phoenix we had a car capable of winning the race and Erik (Jones) was up there battling hard for the lead.”
Jimmie Johnson was at Phoenix to watch his Legacy Motor Club team. What is he seeing differently this year than a year ago? He has some thoughts: pic.twitter.com/cWOI1P8D7D
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 13, 2024
Indeed, Jones was fast. He qualified well and started in the top-5 at Phoenix. He even showcased great speed throughout the first stage. Unfortunately, he crashed out in the latter stages of the race owing to a tussle with Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing. Nevertheless, Johnson has high hopes for the future.
Johnson expects LMC to learn and execute
Amidst its operations at the Cup level, Legacy Motorclub has gone through quite a few changes, with the recent one being just last year, when Johnson was named a part-owner. The team switched to Toyotas in 2023 as well. Therefore, it is normal that there are quite a few things that they need to iron out to attain the status of a championship-winning organization.
“We’re a young team in a lot of ways and the consistency that the big organizations have… with speed in their cars with the performance on pit lane, you know, just a lot of layers that we still have to mature in,” he stated.
Luckily, they have what they need the most; speed. Indeed, the races in the first half of this year’s schedule will be learning experiences for his team. But, he expects his cars to have more natural speed as they return to those tracks in the second half of the season. After that, all they look forward to is winning races, qualifying for the playoffs, and perhaps even bagging a championship if luck prevails.
