2023 Season in Review: Legacy Motor Club

Driver: Erik Jones

#43 Allegiant Chevrolet

Crew Chief: Dave Elenz

Engines: Earnhardt-Childress

2023 Season Grade: C+

Erik Jones entered the 2023 season hoping to improve upon an impressive 2022 campaign. Both Jones and crew chief Dave Elenz signed multi-year extensions, while 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson became a co-owner of the team now known as Legacy Motor Club. Funding would also be a large bookmark on 2023, as the team struggled to find sponsorship.

Noticeably missing when the #43 team arrived in Daytona, is the disappearance of 2022 sponsor FOCUSfactor, replaced mainly with Allegiant Travel. Rocking a GUNS ‘N ROSES paint scheme for the 2023 Daytona 500, Jones had rough start to year, finishing 37th. 

Following Daytona, the 43 crew and Jones struggled to recapture that magic from the previous season, finishing mid-pack the next few races until an 8th place finish in Atlanta. The up and down finishes would continue throughout the season, killing any chance of serious momentum for the 43 team. There were some hints of progress though, which include top 10 runs in Talladega, Nashville, and Pocono. These were also followed by a strong top 5 run in Kansas late in the season. The mid-pack season for Jones would end with a 27th place points finish, one top 5, seven top 10 finishes, and an average finish of 20.4.

2024 Outlook: Having already announced that Legacy Motor Club will be switching to Toyota for 2024, change is on the horizon for Jones yet again. A former Toyota driver in his own right, Jones will be somewhat familiar with the manufacturer. With the smaller Toyota camp and increased support, Jones could return to 2022 form. Look for the 43 to run strong at larger tracks, as well as Darlington where Jones runs well and won with the 43 team in 2022. One last added wrinkle of 2024 is a redesigned Toyota Camry currently testing.

The team has also recently announced Advent Health has been signed to a 6-race sponsorship deal on the 43 car, including the Daytona 500.

2023 Results by Track:

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#42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet

Driver(s): Noah Gragson, Grant Enfinger, Mike Rockenfeller, Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, and Carson Hocevar

Crew Chief: Luke Lambert

2023 Season Grade: C

As dramatic as 2023 was for the #43 team, LMC’s #42 Chevrolet had an even more eventful season. Signing Cup new-comer Noah Gragson, as well as his crew chief Luke Lambert. The #42 team had high hopes after rebuilding from a lackluster 2022 campaign. Attempting to carry the momentum from duo’s Xfinity Series run, the team quickly found the Cup Series is a different animal. Much like the 43 team, the 42 team also struggled to find funding for the season as well.

Gragson started the season decently with finishes of 24th and 22nd in Daytona and California. Similar to their sister #43 team, Gragson and Lambert struggled to gain momentum throughout the season though, not finishing better than 12th once. Gragson was also a bit of an incident magnet during the season. Gateway was the most vicious accident, causing Gragson to have to sit out Sonoma due to concussion-like symptoms. 

GMS Truck Series driver Grant Enfinger got behind the wheel of the 42 in Sonoma, finishing 26th. Gragson returned to the seat of the 42 in Nashville, but the team continued to struggle heading into Richmond where they would finish 28th. During the week between Richmond and Michigan, Gragson made some personal mistakes that led to an indefinite suspension, at the time. Forced to fill the seat for the remainder of the schedule, the team used a mix of Josh Berry, Mike Rockenfeller (for road courses), John Hunter Nemechek, and Truck Series driver Carson Hocevar. 

• Josh Berry: Tapped as the “super sub” for 2023, JR Motorsports’ Berry made 2 of his 10 Cup Series starts in 2023 with the team. Berry would finish 34th in Michigan, while coming home in 22nd at Daytona.
• Mike Rockenfeller: Sports car driver Rockenfeller returned in 2023, running 3 road course races in the #42, with a best finish of 19th in Watkins Glen.
• Carson Hocevar: Hocevar, making his Cup Series debut in 2023, made 8 of his 9 starts with LMC. Hocevar was relatively impressive considering the lack of Cup experience he had, scoring three top 20 finishes. 
• John Hunter Nemechek: In a one race deal between Toyota, Chevrolet, Legacy and Joe Gibbs Racing, 2024 #42 driver John Hunter Nemechek jumped into the car in Phoenix. Nemechek would qualify 24th and finish 32nd (due to an accident).

2024 Outlook: As mentioned above, JGR Xfinity driver John Hunter Nemechek will be taking the wheel of the 42 car, as the team switches to Toyotas. Nemechek, who has 40 Cup Series starts dating back to 2019, will have JGR crew chief Ben Beshore with him as well.

The jury is still out as to how the team will perform with all these changes, but expect Nemechek to make the most of his Cup return. A solid top 20 points finish should be an attainable goal, but only time will tell. Nemechek has only one full-time Cup season under his belt in 2020, with three top 10 finishes driving for Front Row Motorsports.

2023 Results by Track

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#84 Carvana / Wyndham Rewards Chevrolet (Part-Time)

Crew Chief: Todd Gordon

2023 Season Grade: D

 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson returned to NASCAR in 2023 after struggling to find success in IndyCar with Chip Ganassi. Now running a third #84 Chevrolet on a part-time basis in addition to being co-owner, Johnson’s 4-race schedule did yield the results that were expected.

Johnson’s return in 2023 began with the Daytona 500. Wheeling his #84 entry with former IndyCar sponsor Carvana on board, Johnson would qualify 39th and finish 31st. The next race on the schedule was COTA, where the #84 would come home 38th. This was followed by a 37th place finish in Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, a track where Johnson has had tremendous success previously.

Johnson’s last race of the season, the Chicago street race was abruptly cut short due to a family issue, and with the team withdrawing for the final planned race of the season. 

2024 Outlook: Johnson is again expected to run a partial schedule of at least 3 races in the new season, with Advent Health also joining the #84 Toyota. Again, the wildcard is the switch to Toyotas as Johnson has driven Chevrolets the entirety of his NASCAR career thus far. With Johnson also a co-owner, expect Toyota to be heavily involved in bolstering the team’s performance in their limited starts.

2023 Results by Track