“How am I going to get rid of all this clutter?” Joey Cohen, vice president of race operations at Legacy Motor Club, had joked earlier this year. After a major overhaul at the cusp of 2024 and an OEM shift, LMC seems primed for another big change. Only whispers have floated about as the rumor mills are working again. But this time, the change may not be all hunky-dory!

The 2024 season chugged through without any solid finishes for the team. Even Jimmie Johnson, part-time driver and NASCAR legend, could not maneuver the Next Gen car. Hence, he may have some more news coupled with the team’s change.

Jimmie Johnson may let go once and for all

The Legacy Motor Club team registered only four top-10 finishes this season. John Hunter Nemechek, driving the No. 42 car, has shown the strongest speed – fetching three top 10s. At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he battled with Cup heavyweights and paced the field for 16 laps. But the nagging cautions of the Brickyard 400 eventually caught up with Nemechek on the first restart – he could piece together a 29th-place finish. Jimmie Johnson, a four-time Brickyard winner, also crashed out his No. 84 car due to Carson Hocevar’s antics.

Now, Nemechek and Johnson’s wrecked misery may be accompanied by some distressing changes within the LMC team. A NASCAR page recently posted an illuminating post on Instagram: “Sounds like the whole 84 team (and maybe a handful of others at LMC) were let go yesterday. I guess if they intend for Johnson to run his final three races of the year, they better get to hiring before long.” The team changes do come as a surprise after Johnson appreciated Nemechek following Brickyard: “I think our group is starting to understand what we need for the cars.”

It’s no secret why LMC hasn’t been having the best of seasons. After Jimmie Johnson took control of the team’s day-to-day operations in 2023, LMC switched manufacturers this season, going from Chevrolet to Toyota. Unlike 23XI Racing, which has an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing (because of which they share their data), Johnson’s team is building its own data points. But it was surprising when LMC let go of members of Johnson’s team, especially after what Johnson said after the Brickyard 400.

FOX reporter Bob Pockrass confirmed this news on X: “Legacy did release members of the 84 team, including crew chief Jason Burdett, earlier this week. Johnson will still run Kansas, Vegas, and Phoenix later this year. Any 2025 plans still tbd.” Since retiring in 2020, Jimmie Johnson has been on a part-time racing schedule. This year, he took the wheel of the No. 84 Toyota Camry, sponsored by AdventHealth for 6 races.

Yet the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion’s former glory may have settled. Johnson put up a measly showing in most of his races so far, fumbling outside the top 25.

This news also came after Jimmie Johnson appeared in an interview with IndyStar. The seven-time champion discussed the role of being a team owner, saying, “I didn’t think it would be this tough. It’s a tough sport, and we have a great vision and have made a massive commitment to that long-term vision, so we’re on the journey.” Explaining how 2023 wasn’t a year to remember for LMC, Johnson added, “I do think we’re climbing our way out now, but there’s just so much that goes into it, and we’re getting the pieces in place and moving it along.” 

If the rumor mills are correct about shuffling the No. 84 crew, then Jimmie Johnson’s part-time routine may be short-lived. This overhaul inside the team is an echo of last year when Noah Gragson was stripped of his duties for the No. 42 car. The current Stewart-Haas Racing driver got into trouble for an insensitive action on social media, and LMC immediately washed its hands of him. However, Gragson’s ejection was not the only overhaul that LMC underwent. They changed their cars and aesthetics as well.

LMC went through a major change already

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Before the 2024 season, Legacy Motor Club was part of the Chevrolet bandwagon. However, as the team name changed several times – racing under Evernham Motorsports in the 2000s, Richard Petty Motorsports from 2009 to 2021, Petty GMS Motorsports, and then Legacy Motor Club – it also changed its car manufacturer for 2024. And that involved selling off Chevy car parts. “I turned into part salesman the last three races of the year,” Cohen said in January. “We have a communication path with all of our other teams, so I’m sending emails to all our Chevrolet counterparts.”

Cohen also observed the expansion of the LMC workforce, as it grew from 70 or 75 employees to about 115. He mentioned the different departments under Toyota that came to life. “We have an aero department now that has a lead. We have a quality control department that has a staff of four that has a lead. Somebody that’s directly tied in with software development or engineering technology tools that we’re going to start to take on with Toyota and what they do with that type of stuff. We have a simulator that lives here in the shop. Those guys are on that two to three days a week, so that’s a responsibility that needs someone to manage it and operate it. We didn’t have that last year.”

But sadly, some of those experienced staff have been let go if the rumors are true. Meanwhile, 83-time race winner Jimmie Johnson is struggling to put up a post-retirement glory finish.