Cast your mind back to the end of 2022. The former Petty-GMS team looked to be on the upswing. Erik Jones had a breakthrough year, winning the Southern 500 and impressing at a variety of tracks. Meanwhile, the Ty Dillon in the 42 car ran respectively. With the announcement of Jimmie Johnson joining the ownership group, only good things were to come for the team. Then they rebranded to Legacy Motor Club and all went downhill. 2024 saw the team switch to Toyota, which many thought would boost their performance. Adding in a new driver for the 42, perhaps this season would be a step in the right direction. In this edition of Season in Review, it is time to look at the 2024 season for Legacy Motor Club.
#42 – John Hunter Nemechek
2024 Stat Line:Â 36 Starts – 4 Top-10s, 7 Top-20s, 36 Laps Led, Avg Fin: 25.42
Crew Chief: Ben Beshore (31 races)/Brian Campe (5 races)
Driver Points Ranking: 34; Owner Points Ranking: 35
Notable Results: Led 16 laps in the Brickyard 400; Top-10 in the Daytona 500
After the dumpster fire that was the 2023 season for the 42 team, almost anything would have been an improvement. Between 4 different drivers, the team only managed to collect 6 Top-20s. None of those came from the original fulltime driver, Noah Gragson, and 4 were with a driver who was with a different team this season. However, John Hunter Nemechek’s return to the Cup Series brought renewed hope that the team could turn it around.
Nemechek’s return to the Cup Series validated a gamble he pulled after his rookie season in 2020. Rather than remain with Front Row Motorsports, Nemechek signed with Toyota and rebuilt his reputation winning races in the lower series. After 4 seasons between Trucks and Xfinity, Nemechek became a promising prospect again. Could he be the one to help boost the 42 back to relevance? Well, not really.
2024 Grade: D
After 3 seasons of Legacy Motor Club being a 2-car operation, the driver with the most success in the 42 car has been Carson Hocevar. Hocevar only ran 8 races in the ride, helping to replace the fired Gragson. For “fulltime” drivers, Ty Dillon still holds the best average finish among the 3 who qualify.
To be fair to John Hunter Nemechek, he managed to collect 4 Top-10s at a variety of tracks. His season started off well with a Top-10 at Daytona, followed up shortly with one during the tire fiasco at Bristol. However, the moderate success found in 2024 did not outweigh the constant issues Nemechek faced. Almost as if it were clockwork, you would find the 42 part of or causing an incident on track. His 6 DNFs do not tell the whole story of how often Nemechek found himself with significant damage. Perhaps his limited number of lead lap finishes (13) paints the better picture.
2025 Outlook
While there was not much to be excited about from John Hunter Nemechek’s 2024 season, the few bright spots demonstrated the talent he has shown. Of his 4 Top-10s, 2 were in races where driver skill mattered more than equipment (Bristol and New Hampshire). The incidents are an issue, which has to be cleaned up this year. However, the overall poor season is chalked up to the organization more than the driver. Legacy Motor Club did not do Nemechek many favors, as the move to Toyota did little to boost the second team’s performance.
Whether it is team or driver at fault, John Hunter Nemechek needs to put together a 2025 season that gives Toyota to keep him in his ride. Toyota is again loading up on young talent in the lower series that will need rides for next season. Looking at the other Toyota teams, there do not seem to be many openings at Joe Gibbs Racing or 23XI Racing on the horizon. There were murmurs that Nemechek was on the hot seat this year. If that is the case, then the performance will need to improve if Nemechek wants to remain in the 42.
#43 – Erik Jones
2024 Stat Line:Â 34 Starts – 1 Top-5, 2 Top-10s, 15 Top-20s, Avg Fin: 22.91
Crew Chief: David Elenz (29 races)/Ben Beshore (5 races)
Driver Points Ranking: 28; Owner Points Ranking: 29
Notable Results: Injured his back during spring Talladega, missed 2 races; Scored a Top-10 in the Daytona 500
Erik Jones was the centerpiece of optimism around this team after the 2022 season. He nearly averaged a Top-15 finish and finished 18th in points. If steady progress could be made, then many expected Jones and the 43 team to make the jump to playoff contenders. However, 2023 seemed to be marred by Legacy’s future move to Toyota. Chevy seemed to shut down the information stream to the organization. Many chalked up Jones’ dip in performance to that pettiness from the manufacturer. For some, the expectation was that Jones would be a playoff contender.
Well, it turned out it was more than simply a manufacturer issue for the 43 team. Erik Jones put together his worst season to date. For the first time in his career, Jones managed to not lead a lap or score at least 5 Top-10s. 2024 marked his worst average finish in his career, topping his previous worst from last season. To top it off, Jones hurt his back in an accident at Talladega, forcing him to miss 2 races. In his absence, Corey Heim did a respectable job subbing in.
2024 Grade: F
2023 should have been taken as a warning sign for how this year would unfold. Erik Jones and the 43 team never showed competitive speed. After netting a Top-10 in the Daytona 500, Jones did not pick up another until Talladega in the playoffs. For the entire season, Jones failed to score a Top-10 at any non-superspeedway track. It was a stark disappointment for a driver who was picked to be a playoff spoiler.
2025 Outlook
Will this team be able to replicate the moderate 2022 success prior to the ownership shuffle? Erik Jones might not be a top tier driver, but he is certainly more capable than what the 43 team has been demonstrating. Put Jones in a more competitive car, then he would be a fringe-playoff contender. After the past 2 seasons, the expectation for this team has slipped to remaining in the Top-25 of points.
The big question for the 2025 season will be Erik Jones’ status moving forward. Honestly, it might be a reprieve for the driver if he were to be replaced at LMC. Since 2022, this relationship between driver and team has not been a successful one. For Legacy, maybe there needs to be a younger driver to serve as their anchor. Meanwhile, Jones could use a better team around him to maximize his performance. It would not be a shock to see something of a mutual parting of ways by the end of the 2025 season.
#84 – Jimmie Johnson
2024 Stat Line:Â 9 Starts – Avg Start: 28.22, Avg Fin: 30.56, 2 Lead Lad Finishes
Crew Chief: Jason Burdett (6 races)/Eugene Wachtel (3 races)
While nothing Jimmie Johnson does during this part-time run will diminish his legacy, his spot starts in the 84 have been rough to experience. Clearly, Johnson is struggling to adapt to the NextGen car. Plus, it has been sometime since Johnson has looked formidable in any car or motorsport. In his 9 starts this season, Johnson barely made the Daytona 500, struggled to remain on the lead lap in every race, and had a best finish of 26th. Hardly what is expected out of a former 7-time champion.
Jimmie Johnson will return to the 84 in 2025 for more spot starts, including attempting the Daytona 500. What should fans expect out Johnson? More of the same sadly. Honestly, it would be better served for Toyota, LMC, and all involved to give Corey Heim or another young TRD driver some seat time in that car rather than Johnson. Yes, sponsorship requests would put a stop to that. However, it would be more beneficial to allow a young driver to work out the growing pains then watching a former legend continue to be a back marker in the field.
Legacy Motor Club 2024 Grade: F
Honestly, there is not much to say about Legacy Motor Club’s 2024. Both of their fulltime cars continued to disappoint, outside of some bright spots from John Hunter Nemechek. Erik Jones has been saddled with a regressing team, which is still confusing after how well the team ran in 2022. Honestly, the move to put Jimmie Johnson in charge of the day-to-day operations in 2023 seems to be a bust. The switch to Toyota also did the organization no favors. Maybe 2025 can be a bounce back season for LMC. However, that would not be expected based on the past 2 years.
For other 2024 Season in Review articles, click the link(s) below:
Robert Cwick: Team Penske, JTG-Daugherty, Front Row Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing
Griffin Fuller: 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, RFK Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Wood Brothers Racing, Richard Childress Racing
Daniel Smith (statistical reviews): Team Penske/Wood Brothers, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Trackhouse Racing/Richard Childress Racing, RFK Racing/Front Row Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, Spire Motorsports/JTG-Daughtery, Kaulig Racing/Rick Ware Racing, Cup Series Final Ranking
