Legacy Motor Club’s Toyota race cars were nonexistent throughout the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The only time the viewers got engaged with the LMC drivers was when they were involved in wrecks or accidents on the racetrack. That’s how bleak the results were for the two entries #42 of John Hunter Nemechek and #43 of Erik Jones.

Jimmie Johnson’s team has never been shy of making changes to level up and be competitive. For the first time, they switched manufacturers, going from Chevrolet to Toyota, fulfilling the team’s ambitious plans. But those plans and expectations seem to have fallen flat if we are to judge their season based on results. LMC is currently transitioning from Chevrolet to Toyota, but given the streak of changes in the team, they haven’t really gained any ground.

So the question begs, Did Legacy Motor Club make a mistake in ditching Chevrolet and partnering with Toyota? Well, team co-owner Jimmie Johnson doesn’t think so. Rather, he believes that the team will have to take this as a learning curve and adapt to the new challenges of NASCAR racing.

Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club will get through these tough times

One of the primary reasons Legacy Motor Club left Chevrolet was that their roster was overcrowded. With so many teams in line, they didn’t feel that they would be prioritized, and that could’ve stalled their on-track progress. With only two teams signed with Toyota, they saw this as an excellent opportunity to establish their name as a premier partner. One of the key points to be noted here is that, unlike 23XI Racing, LMC didn’t partner with Joe Gibbs Racing as a technical partner.

“This is a long-term play for us with Toyota. We thought this year would be a bit smoother, and it wasn’t. In that are lessons for us. It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it except work harder and get better. That’s what we’re gearing up for.” Jimmie Johnson said this while speaking to NASCAR. Basically, LMC is trying to build its own racing program without the support of Big Brother teams, and that can be tedious at times. Despite being stacked up against the odds, Johnson believes, his team is positioned, “very well for the future,” with Toyota.

Nemechek with the #42 team, could only muster four top-10 results, finishing the season 34th in the standings. Erik Jones at times was consistent, but the P5 finish in the fall race at Talladega was the only positive result of his entire season. Jones is a former two-time Southern 500 winner, but to see him struggle to get speed out of his race car was a hard watch.

Johnson and his team didn’t expect this tough of a grind when pairing with the new OEM partners. However, they’ve now accepted that it is all part of the journey. “We couldn’t have tried any harder this year. It’s just part of the journey is probably the best way to put it. I think this year has been a very transformational year for us. We won’t have a great sense of the change until we get into probably March of next year.”

While Legacy Motor Club is still trying to find the parts and pieces to make their program work, the two new teams have already proven themselves. Both 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing are new to the sport, but unlike LMC, they have made it to the championship race in 2024 and 2022, respectively. There is one glaring detail that sets these teams apart, and LMC would not like to hear what it is.

Does Legacy Motor Club need to get on board with JGR?

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A technical alliance helps the new teams get a jump start on their racing journey. It includes the sharing of data and new race strategies through the R&D departments. However, the teams have to shell out cash from their pockets to get access to this information. Truth be told, given the results, both Trackhouse and 23XI have been able to get, the technical alliance is indeed a difference-maker.

Trackhouse, with their driver Ross Chastain, made it to the championship 4 in their very first season back in 2022. And 23XI Racing did the same with Tyler Reddick and the #45 team. They won the regular season championship title and made it all the way to Phoenix. In just a short period of time, along with 8 Cup wins, 23XI Racing is proving to be a powerhouse team. Interestingly, Trackhouse has also won the same number of races since its debut in 2021.

Well, it’s all good trying to build a race program from scratch, but at what cost? LMC has zero wins to show for their efforts, and with the changing dynamics of the sport, they just might always play catch up to these teams. Even Johnson acknowledges the rapid changes NASCAR racing undergoes within a year or two. “The sport has evolved a bunch in the last two years.”

It’s fair to say the 2025 season is going to prove a huge challenge for LMC. And if things still don’t improve, they’ll have to rethink their planning or perhaps just sign up with JGR on a technical alliance.