Although the team no longer bears his name following its rebranding in 2023 after Jimmie Johnson joined as the co-owner, it continues to remain under the stewardship of racing icon Richard Petty. As the new season looms just two weeks away, Petty expressed his enthusiasm about the upcoming races, especially given the sweeping changes within the Legacy Motor Club, despite retaining the same lineup of drivers.
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In a detailed discussion with WFMY News 2, Petty shared, “We’re looking really looking forward to it. We’ve had one year with Toyota, and now we’ve just redone the whole business of Legacy [Motor Club].”
“We got the same drivers, but we got different crew chiefs, we got different people working on the car, we got different engineers. So, it’s really almost like starting with a new team.”
Petty continued, “So, I think all of our people are excited about it. [We] Have put the right people together in the right place. So it’s gonna be exciting for us just because it’s gonna be like completely starting all over again.”
The team faced challenges during its first season with Toyota in 2024, experiencing a steep learning curve. Drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones showed potential, with Nemechek achieving a personal best in top-10 finishes, yet the overall results left the team yearning for more substantial success.
Jones’ performance during the 2024 season fell short of expectations, marking his most challenging year in the Cup Series with an average finish of 22.9, an average start of 26.9, and completing only 17 races on the lead lap. Additionally, a back injury from an April crash at Talladega Superspeedway forced him to sit out two races.
Meanwhile, Johnson, despite making nine starts in 2024, only managed a season-best finish of 26th at Phoenix, the final race of the season.
As for team adjustments, there were several strategic shifts within the crew chief roles to revitalize the team’s dynamics. Initially, Brian Campe stepped in to replace Ben Beshore as the crew chief for the #42 car towards the latter part of 2024.
However, following Campe’s departure for Hendrick Motorsports, Travis Mack was named the new crew chief for John Hunter Nemechek in 2025. Concurrently, Ben Beshore transitioned from the #42 to take over as crew chief for Erik Jones in the #43 Toyota.
Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club is heading into 2025 with renewed optimism
Last season, the team eked out a single top-5 finish, thanks to Erik Jones’ stellar performance at Talladega, alongside six top-10 finishes. The season’s results were subdued, with Jones topping the team charts at 28th place, slightly down from his previous season’s 27th. John Hunter Nemechek finished at 34th, and Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, wrapped up at 37th after competing in nine races.
However, Johnson views the upcoming season with optimism. After a period of adjustment to a new manufacturer which took longer than expected, he believes the team has now positioned itself for success.
He said, “It took us a while to get up to speed with the manufacturer change there, maybe longer than we wanted it to, but I think… We got a lot of the pieces in place now where we can start the year all strong. Brought on a lot of new people with a technical director and added Chad Johnson, Travis Mack from Kaulig.”
This season, Johnson plans to participate in two races — the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, offering a better chance to gauge the impact of the team’s revamped leadership on the track. It will be intriguing to see how the drivers fare under the guidance of their new crew chiefs.
