Legacy Motor Club Overview
Legacy Motor Club is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is based in Statesville, North Carolina, and fields three Toyota Camry entries: the No. 42 driven by John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 43 driven by Erik Jones, and the No. 84 driven part-time by team co-owner Jimmie Johnson. The organization maintains a technical alliance with Toyota Racing Development and, in 2024, expanded its racing footprint by joining the electric off-road series Extreme E.
Majority ownership of the team is held by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, with minority stakes held by Maury Gallagher, Richard Petty, Knighthead Capital Management, and country music artist Darius Rucker. Leadership within the team is provided by Chief Executive Officer Cal Wells, President Mike Beam, and General Manager Bobby Kennedy. Primary sponsors include AdventHealth and Dollar Tree, with the team operating under a clear identity built around a Toyota manufacturer partnership and high-profile ownership.
Founding and Organizational Origins
Legacy Motor Club traces its origins to December 1, 2021, when Maury Gallagher purchased a majority interest in the former Richard Petty Motorsports for $19 million. The acquisition included both of Richard Petty Motorsports’ charters, allowing the organization to immediately field two full-time cars. Following the purchase, the team was renamed Petty GMS Motorsports, blending Gallagher’s existing GMS Racing identity with the storied Petty name.
The acquisition gave the team a strong foundation in NASCAR’s top series. One of the charters continued to operate on the No. 43, while a second charter, previously leased to Rick Ware Racing for the No. 51 from 2019 to 2021, was reassigned to a new entry. That second charter was placed on the No. 42, which was re-numbered from the No. 94 that GMS Racing had originally planned for its Cup debut. The early operational base was established in Statesville, North Carolina, where the team continues to operate today.
Growth Into NASCAR Cup Series Competition
The team made its NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2022 Daytona 500, marking the first competitive laps for the newly formed Petty GMS Motorsports. Ty Dillon was named the driver of the No. 42 for the team’s inaugural season, while Erik Jones, who had signed a multi-year contract with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2020, was retained behind the wheel of the No. 43. Petty GMS fielded Chevrolet entries during this first season as it worked to build its racing programs.
On November 4, 2022, seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson purchased an ownership stake in Petty GMS Motorsports, signaling the start of a significant leadership transition. Following the 2022 season, Richard Petty sold all of his remaining shares to majority owner Maury Gallagher. On January 11, 2023, the organization announced a complete rebranding to Legacy Motor Club, ending the Petty family’s continuous presence on a Cup Series team for the first time since NASCAR’s founding in 1948. On May 3, 2023, the team announced it would switch manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota beginning in 2024, establishing a new technical direction that remains in place today.
Legacy Motor Club Competitive Journey
Legacy Motor Club has competed in three racing series since its founding: the NASCAR Cup Series, Extreme E, and the IndyCar Series. Across 165 total race starts, the team has recorded one Cup Series victory, zero pole positions, and zero drivers’ championships. Competitive progress has come gradually, with the team scoring its first win in 2022 and continuing to develop its engineering and operational capabilities.
Early Seasons and Development (2022-2023)
The team’s first Cup Series season in 2022 featured a learning curve for both its entries. Ty Dillon finished 29th in the driver standings with only one top-ten result at the Bristol dirt race, while Erik Jones provided stability on the No. 43 with thirteen top-ten finishes and a third-place run at Fontana. The most significant achievement of the season came at the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, where Jones scored the win and gave Petty GMS its first victory, the No. 43 its first win since 2014, and the iconic number its 200th career Cup Series triumph. The team also adopted Joe Gibbs Racing pit crews during the 2022 season, a partnership formalized for 2023.
The 2023 season brought major transitions alongside the rebranding to Legacy Motor Club. Noah Gragson was signed to drive the No. 42, but a combination of on-track incidents, a brake rotor failure at Gateway, and an indefinite suspension for violating NASCAR’s member conduct rules led to a series of substitute drivers, including Grant Enfinger, Josh Berry, Mike Rockenfeller, and Carson Hocevar. The No. 42 team ended the year 32nd in owners’ standings. On the No. 43, Jones recorded seven top-ten finishes, including a third-place run at Kansas, but the team faced setbacks, including a sixty-point L1 penalty at Gateway and the departure of crew chief Dave Elenz.
Breakthrough in NASCAR Cup Series (2024)
The 2024 season marked a new era for Legacy Motor Club as the team transitioned to Toyota and strengthened its manufacturer ties. On September 6, 2023, the team announced that John Hunter Nemechek would take over the No. 42 full-time beginning in 2024, providing a long-term foundation for that entry. Erik Jones remained in the No. 43 and brought in major sponsorships from AdventHealth and Dollar Tree, including Family Dollar, anchoring the team’s commercial outlook.
Jones opened the 2024 campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500, his best result at the track since 2019. A hard crash at Talladega resulted in a compression fracture in a lower vertebra, sidelining him briefly and requiring reserve driver Corey Heim to substitute at Dover and Kansas. By the end of the season, technical director Brian Campe had moved over from the No. 42 to become crew chief of the No. 43, and Travis Mack was named the new crew chief of the No. 42 for 2025. Legacy Motor Club also entered the Extreme E series in 2024, with Jimmie Johnson as lead driver and Travis Pastrana substituting for the first two rounds alongside Gray Leadbetter, finishing sixth in both the Desert X-Prix events and scoring the team’s first Super Sector.
Modern Program and Current Direction (2025-Present)
The 2025 season brought significant changes at the ownership and operational level. On January 27, 2025, Jimmie Johnson was named majority owner of Legacy Motor Club, with Knighthead Capital Management acquiring a minority stake. Maury Gallagher stepped back into an ambassador role, and on March 25, 2026, Darius Rucker was added as a co-owner. The team’s leadership group was further strengthened on July 14, 2024, when Bobby Kennedy was named General Manager. Kaz Grala replaced Corey Heim as the team’s simulation and reserve driver for 2025.
On the track, Jones started the 2025 Daytona 500 with a twelfth-place finish and faced a disqualification at Martinsville for a minimum weight violation. Johnson opened his part-time campaign with a third-place finish in the 2025 Daytona 500, his best result as an owner-driver, and later made his 700th career Cup Series start at the Coca-Cola 600. Looking ahead, the team has expanded into open-wheel competition, announcing on April 28, 2026, a partnership with Arrow McLaren to field the No. 31 for Ryan Hunter-Reay at the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
Philosophy and Competitive Strengths
Legacy Motor Club’s competitive identity is shaped by its Toyota manufacturer partnership, its technical alliance with Toyota Racing Development, and a steady investment in crew leadership and engineering. The team has focused on building long-term driver stability, pairing John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones with experienced crew chiefs to develop consistent race-day execution. Off the track, the organization’s strength lies in its high-profile ownership group, which has helped attract major sponsors and broaden the team’s commercial base.
Key Milestones and Major Moments
The team’s most significant milestones include Erik Jones’s victory in the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500, which marked the organization’s first Cup Series win and the No. 43’s 200th career victory, and the January 11, 2023 rebrand to Legacy Motor Club, the first time in modern NASCAR history that the Petty name was absent from a top-series team. Additional landmarks include the 2024 switch to Toyota, Jimmie Johnson’s third-place finish in the 2025 Daytona 500, and the team’s expansion into Extreme E in 2024 and the IndyCar Series in 2026.
Legacy Motor Club Achievements and Results
Since its 2022 debut, Legacy Motor Club has recorded one NASCAR Cup Series victory, zero pole positions, and zero drivers’ championships across 161 Cup Series starts. The team has also competed in four Extreme E events, scoring one Super Sector, and has begun a multi-series expansion that includes a one-off Indianapolis 500 entry in 2026.
Cup Series Achievements
Legacy Motor Club’s sole Cup Series victory came on September 4, 2022, when Erik Jones won the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The win was the first for the organization, the first for the No. 43 since the 2014 Coke Zero 400, and the 200th career Cup Series win for the famous number. Beyond that victory, the team’s strongest results include Jones’s third-place finish at Kansas in 2023, which was also the organization’s only top-five finish of that season, and his eighth-place run in the 2024 Daytona 500.
Conference Achievements
The NASCAR Cup Series does not operate under a traditional conference structure, so conference-based achievements are not applicable to Legacy Motor Club’s competitive record.
Divisional Achievements
Similarly, the NASCAR Cup Series does not maintain a divisional standings format, so divisional achievements are not tracked within Legacy Motor Club’s competitive history.
Series Achievements
Across all series, Legacy Motor Club has accumulated one victory, zero pole positions, and zero drivers’ championships in 165 combined race starts. In Extreme E, the team completed four rounds during the 2024 season, finishing sixth in both Desert X-Prix events and earning its first Super Sector in Round 2. The team did not continue its Extreme E program when the series became Extreme H in 2025, but it has continued to expand its open-wheel presence through its partnership with Arrow McLaren at the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
