NASCAR: Two drivers named for new Toyota team in 2024

Legacy Motor Club plan to move forward with their two current full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers once they switch to Toyota in 2024.

Legacy Motor Club made the shocking announcement on Tuesday that they will be switching manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota after the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The decision marks another change in approach since the arrival of Jimmie Johnson, a longtime Chevrolet driver and seven-time Cup Series champion, as a co-owner ahead of the 2023 season.

Prior to his arrival, the team were known as Petty GMS Motorsports; Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Motorsports joined forces before the 2022 season began.

Richard Petty Motorsports had been aligned with Chevrolet since switching from Ford in 2018, while GMS Motorsports had only ever been aligned with Chevrolet since they opened in 2011.

Year number one as Legacy Motor Club has not quite gone according to plan for the organization, especially after Petty GMS Motorsports looked promising down the stretch last year, highlighted by Erik Jones winning the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Through 11 races this season, Jones sits in 24th place in the point standings with two top 10 finishes while rookie Noah Gragson sits in 32nd with a top finish of 12th.

Both drivers have spent multiple seasons competing for Toyota during their NASCAR careers already.

Legacy Motor Club plan no changes to the pairing for 2024.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their lineup is “confirmed”, per se, since teams sometimes use the words “look forward to” as a way of committing without actually committing.

But both Jones and Gragson are said to be driving for the team under multi-year contracts as it stands right now, so there is nothing to suggest that any changes are in the works.

Jones signed a multi-year extension during what was an impressive year last season, while Gragson joined the team as a rookie this year.

Jones spent nearly a decade with Toyota, including four years in the Cup Series, before being dropped by Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2020 season. He drove for Furniture Row Racing in 2017 and Joe Gibbs Racing from 2018 to 2020, winning twice during his stint with the latter.

Gragson competed full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports and Toyota in the Truck Series in 2017 and 2018 before switching to Chevrolet when he moved to the Xfinity Series in 2019 with JR Motorsports.

As for Johnson, who currently drives the No. 84 Chevrolet on a part-time basis, he has only ever driven for Chevrolet throughout his NASCAR career, which dates all the way back to 1998. There is no word on how often he plans to compete in 2024 when Legacy Motor Club officially join forces with Toyota.