Recently, the news of Dave Elenz leaving Legacy Motor Club caught fans by surprise. Elenz, who served as the crew chief for Erik Jones since 2022, has departed from the team and now fans want to know who Jimmie Johnson will decide to replace him with. This comes in as a part of the huge transformation that the team is undergoing, where the first step began by changing their manufacturer. The team has been in a slump since they switched to Toyota, and now the team is trying to single out why that is the case.

Legacy Motor Club is a team that has been slowly picking up in the NASCAR scene ever since its renaming; however, their year with the No. 43 has not been as expected. After news about Elenz’s departure broke out, Ben Beshore was discussed as taking his place. Although Beshore had been working with the No. 42 team, Johnson and co decided to pair him up with Jones for the last 5 races. Beshore and Jones will start working together full-time from next season; however, to prepare them for that, the crew chief will stand in for Elenz till the end of the season.

Erik Jones’ take on having a new crew chief

Right now, Legacy Motor Club is trying to turn its luck around on the tracks. This is a prolonged effort that Jimmie Johnson has wanted to implement ever since 2023. The manufacturer change came about because Chevrolet did not support LMC as much as they did Hendrick Motorsports and other teams. As a broader plan to turn the team’s trajectory, LMC also decided to let go of Dave Elenz to see how the remaining season works out for them.

The news of Dave Elenz came as a surprise, especially after the fact that they had their best race in months at Talladega. After finishing in the 20s and 30s ever since Darlington, the No. 43 team finally had a Top 5 finish at Talladega. So when it was announced that Elenz wouldn’t be with the team, many got curious as to what LMC had planned for the future.

When it was revealed that Ben Beshore would be taking over Dave Elenz’s duties, one reported wanting to understand how a new leadership would affect the team. During the pre-race interview in Charlotte, Erik Jones was put up on the stand and that’s where he answered exactly how he feels about the change.

During the pre-race interview, Jones was asked, “Do you expect Ben to be your crew chief next year? Or do you feel like the next five races are kind of a trial to see how you work together? And do you feel like having a crew chief who’s been in the Toyota system longer than Dave could be a help?”

To that, Erik Jones replied while dissecting the changes the team is undergoing, “I would say it’s, you know, a trial period currently. Obviously, it looks like that’s going to be the case for the rest of the season, with five races left. So, as far as next year goes, you don’t know how that alignment looks.”

While working with a crew chief, it’s important to understand each other, and considering the fact that Beshore has never been Jones’s crew chief, the No. 43 driver explained, “We haven’t hurriedly gotten that far down the road, so I’m getting to know Ben and working with him through these next few races.” Although Erik Jones doesn’t sound too sure about the new crew chief in the interview, these changes have been on Jimmie Johnson and Co.’s mind for a while.

The team wants to get back on its feet and win more races, and according to Jimmie Johnson, implementing these changes will be what can get the team its redemption. So now that we know how Erik Jones feels about his new crew chief and manufacturer, let’s move the attention to something else that is new for the driver.

Erik Jones’ No. 43 Toyota to feature pink window nets

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It’s not only Erik Jones’ crew chief that will be changing in the upcoming race; it will be how his car looks too. The famously green and white No. 43 will have an addition that will definitely stand out. Recently, Erik Jones and Thermal Control Products Inc. partnered up to reveal the No. 43 new window nets that are going to be a glaring hot pink color.

This collaboration came across as a part of their #WindowOfHope program which assists in early detection and care for those impacted by breast cancer. The Legacy Motor Club driver spoke about the collaboration during a recent interview where he was asked to expand on the partnership with the “pink window nets.”

Answering the question, Jones explained that he had a great experience as they took over the program last year. He then stated that, compared to last year, this year is when the team developed the program. He explained that 2024 was monumental as he got to work with Thermal Control Products, and the experience has been positive.

Jones added to his answer by saying, “but at the end of the day, what it is really about is raising money for breast cancer and early detection and prevention.” He then explained how much the project means to him as he said, “That is a huge pillar of our foundation and has been from the start—three years ago—and looking forward to seeing the window nets on the cars and raising some great money for it and for the cause.”

With this, we know that there are many interesting things happening at Erik Jones’ garage for the Roval and fans cannot wait to see how he performs. Judging by all of this, do you think that Erik Jones will be able to repeat his top-5 finish from Talladega this weekend? Share your thoughts in the comments below.