Legacy Motor Club Martinsville Preview arrives as the team heads to the historic Virginia track with optimism and the weight of impressive legacies. With Jimmie Johnson, Richard Petty, and Matt Kenseth all boasting strong performances at Martinsville Speedway, Legacy MC aims to harness past triumphs as it seeks a powerful conclusion to the NASCAR Cup Series season.
Celebrated Champions and Their Martinsville Records
Jimmie Johnson, co-owner of Legacy Motor Club and a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, stands as one of the sport’s greatest at Martinsville Speedway. Over 38 starts at the .524-mile oval, Johnson secured an impressive nine victories, 19 top-five finishes, and 25 top-10 results, a testament to his consistency and dominance on the track. Notably, his average finish at Martinsville was 9.9, making it the most successful venue in his Cup career. Johnson first tasted victory at the track in October 2004, launching a run that saw five wins in eight races between April 2006 and October 2009. His last Martinsville win came in October 2016 after a commanding performance leading 92 laps and taking the checkered flag ahead of Brad Keselowski.
Matt Kenseth, Legacy MC’s competition advisor and former Cup Series champion, has 39 Martinsville starts to his name. Kenseth’s robust tenure at the track includes six top-fives, 15 top-10s, and 641 laps led. Twice, he finished in the runner-up position, coming tantalizingly close to victory in April 2002 and October 2013.
Richard Petty, known as “The King” and a Legacy MC ambassador, holds an unmatched Martinsville record across 67 career starts. His string of accomplishments features 15 wins, 30 top-five results, and 37 top-10 finishes while leading 2,823 laps. Petty first conquered the Virginia short track in April 1960 and last claimed victory there in April 1975, highlighting a span of sustained performance that has made Martinsville a central pillar of his storied career.
John Hunter Nemechek Looks to Build on Experience
John Hunter Nemechek enters the weekend leading Legacy’s No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE at Martinsville, seeking to transfer his success from other series to the top level. In the NASCAR Cup Series, Nemechek has made five starts at Martinsville, with a best finish of 25th, achieved twice. However, his credentials on short tracks are more notable in NASCAR’s developmental series. In the Xfinity Series, he captured a significant victory in April 2023, starting second and controlling 198 of 250 laps en route to a caution-flag finish over Sammy Smith. Nemechek also excelled in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, taking five top-five finishes and a memorable win in March 2018, where he edged out Kyle Benjamin by just .106 seconds.
Reflecting on the season’s challenges and expectations for Martinsville, John Hunter Nemechek shared,
We haven’t had the strongest short track program this season, but we’ve learned a lot throughout the year. We set ourselves up with a decent spot in the qualifying order, which will be important since qualifying makes such a difference here. I’m excited to put our notebook to the test and capitalize on some of our key learnings from earlier in the season.
– John Hunter Nemechek, Driver
His Truck and Xfinity Series results at Martinsville provide a foundation of confidence as the team strives for improvement on NASCAR’s demanding half-mile oval.
Crew Chiefs Aim for Strategic Edge
Travis Mack, crew chief for the No. 42 Camry, will make his tenth Cup Series start at Martinsville this Sunday. Mack’s Cup debut at the track came in 2018 with Kasey Kahne, and across various partnerships, he achieved his best finish of 12th in October 2022 with Daniel Suárez. This year, Mack reunited with Nemechek in the spring race, continuing their collaboration into this October contest. Additionally, Mack’s single Xfinity Series effort at Martinsville saw him guide Michael Annett from 11th to eighth in October 2020.
Mack highlighted his optimism for the event, saying,
We weren’t bad in the spring. We battled some issues, but we have a good baseline for Martinsville. It’s going to be chaos, of course, with playoff cars trying to make it into the Championship Four but we still want to run up front and would like to finish off the year with a good run to lead into next year. We’re taking something a little different to Martinsville this weekend, so I’m feeling good about our chances.
– Travis Mack, Crew Chief
This blend of data-driven adjustments and strategic risk underlines the team’s approach to one of NASCAR’s most demanding venues.
Erik Jones Seeks to Capitalize on Progress
Erik Jones pilots the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy at Martinsville. The Xfinity 500 will be Jones’ 18th Cup Series start at the track, where his best result so far was an eighth-place finish in October 2021 after starting 28th. While Jones has not raced in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville, his Truck Series experience includes five starts, yielding two top-five finishes and a third-place run in March 2015. As the season comes to a close, Jones looks to translate incremental gains on short tracks into a notable finish at the “Paperclip.”
Reflecting on the unique demands of Martinsville, Jones stated,
Martinsville is definitely a difficult racetrack. We haven’t been as strong in our short track program as our intermediate, but I feel like we’ve made progress throughout the year. Qualifying is really important at Martinsville because of how short the track is – you can get lapped pretty quickly since it’s so hard to pass. We’ve been looking at our notes from all of the short tracks this year so hopefully we can find some speed this weekend.
– Erik Jones, Driver
Supporting Jones, crew chief Ben Beshore brings critical experience, having been atop the box for six Cup Series starts at Martinsville with drivers like Kyle Busch, Nemechek, and Jones. His best Cup result at the track was a runner-up with Busch in October 2021. In Xfinity competition, Beshore has celebrated wins with Harrison Burton and Nemechek, punctuated by strong efforts that included leading a majority of laps in April 2021.
Beshore provided insight into the team’s preparation, remarking,
Martinsville has been a tough racetrack for us. We didn’t really have a great run there in the Spring, so we’re really putting our heads together to see if we can come up with a good package this time around that makes sense for that track. The main goal this weekend is to learn something that we can use to build on our program for next season. As a company, short tracks have kind of been our Achilles heel. Hopefully, we can get a direction on something and be able to build on it for next year.
– Ben Beshore, Crew Chief
This coordinated focus on preparation and adjustments highlights the organization’s collective resolve to address weaknesses and drive forward.
Enduring Legacy and the Road Ahead at Martinsville
The Legacy Motor Club Martinsville Preview reveals both the history and ambitions of this storied team as it returns to one of NASCAR’s most challenging short tracks. With veterans like Jimmie Johnson, Richard Petty, and Matt Kenseth shaping the team’s identity, there is hope that their expertise can inspire a strong showing in the Xfinity 500.
As playoff implications raise the intensity and stakes at Martinsville Speedway, Legacy MC will strive to build on each driver’s experience and the lessons of seasons past. The focus on qualifying, race-day strategy, and continual improvement positions the team to take advantage of any opportunity, while keeping an eye on shaping a competitive campaign for the coming year.
