Ahead of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, perhaps no team was more intriguing than Legacy Motor Club. After finishing 2023 with a series of strong runs, the organization switched manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota and signed John Hunter Nemechek to accompany the perpetually underrated Erik Jones. A breakout seemed to be in store.
It was not to be. Not even close. In fact, Legacy Motor Club was quite possibly the worst team in the Cup Series last season, with Jones and Nemechek placing 28th and 34th in points, respectively. For Nemechek, this was dead-last among all full-time drivers, while for Jones, it was the worst standings finish of his eight-year Cup Series career.
As a result, many wrote off Legacy Motor Club entering the 2025 season, despite the team continuing to make personnel adjustments behind the scenes. Yet nearly halfway through the year, both cars have markedly improved, and they only seem to be getting better by the week.
Slowly but surely, Jimmie Johnson's ownership vision is coming together
Now 14 races into the 2025 season, Nemechek sits 22nd in points while Jones is closely behind him in 24th. Both drivers have already equaled their number of top 10 finishes from 2024, and in the past four weeks, at least one of the two has finished inside the top 10 in three of them.
The only exception was the Coca-Cola 600, where Nemechek had competitive speed throughout most of the race and Jones finished 13th.
At Nashville Superspeedway last Sunday, Jones put together perhaps the most complete race by a Legacy Motor Club driver since the team's switch to Toyota. He started 14th, moved inside the top 10 early on in the second stage, and briefly ran as high as third before finishing seventh on pure speed.
His driver rating of 105.7 was both his and Legacy Motor Club's first in the triple digits since he scored a 101.6 in a third place effort at Kansas Speedway in September 2023. It's also the highest overall by the team since Jones earned a 113.3 at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022.
When seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson first joined forces with Maury Gallagher and fellow NASCAR legend Richard Petty to form the rebranded operation, many questioned if he had what it took to be a successful owner in the Cup Series.
The immediate sweeping changes to the team's infrastructure and ensuing disappointing results on the track only made those questions louder, but right when all hope seemed to be lost, things are finally starting to come together.
Assuming this recent surge proves to be sustainable, Johnson's vision can be vindicated at last. Legacy Motor Club is officially on the up and up.