Was Jimmie Johnson Over-Confident Opting Out of Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s Playbook Heading Into 2024?

“There’s just a dance to it all that I didn’t realize,” Legacy Motor Club owner Jimmie Johnson waxed woefully. When the seven-time Cup Series champion tied up with legendary driver Richard Petty in 2022, it felt like a star-studded union. Richard Petty Motorsports seemed slated to revive its past glory. However, besides shedding the Petty name, the team seemed to have also dropped its winning ambitions after that.

Two years into this new venture, there is no doubt about it. Veteran Jimmie Johnson is struggling, both as a team owner and as a part-time driver. He did not follow the same route as relatively new Cup teams usually do, like 23XI Racing. That may be one reason why LMC has yet to scrape Victory Lane.

Is Jimmie Johnson’s approach slowing down LMC?

When you look at Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, tales of success rush into your head. The unlikely duo joined hands only in 2020, the same year that Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time NASCAR racing. But both Hamlin and Jordan wanted the best out of 23XI Racing and took all the necessary steps for that. Which included aligning with Joe Gibbs Racing in a technical alliance. They get 23XI data but skip a lot of crucial steps for which they rely on JGR’s data.

That is what NASCAR expert Eric Estepp recently concluded was missing in the LMC fold. When Jimmie Johnson launched his new endeavor, several changes came about that are continuing till today. For instance, the team snapped its bond with Chevrolet and jumped aboard the Toyota bandwagon. This could be a reason for its unfortunate race finishes, although the Legacy CEO explained that Chevy was treating the team like a Tier 3 one. At the Brickyard 400, Jimmie Johnson and his younger teammates bumped into crashes and logged 28th, 29th, and 33rd. To add to the chaos, the team also parted ways with their long-standing crew chief, Jason Burdett, from the No. 84 team.

However, Jimmie Johnson still avoided the elephant in the room. LMC is not following the 23XI Racing approach to effectively adapt to the Next Gen landscape. Johnson recently slipped his reason for this while admitting to his struggles. “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-time vision. So we’re on the journey. But I thought last year, we were kind of at the bottom, then we went down a little lower and found a lower bottom.” 

Incidentally, Jimmie Johnson’s “long-time vision” does not align with billionaire co-owner Maury Gallagher. The latter hoped for quick success, much like Hamlin and Jordan’s 23XI achievements. However, as 23XI Racing aligned with JGR, Trackhouse Racing with Hendrick Motorsports, and Front Row Motorsports with Team Penske, LMC did not deem it wise to go on that route. And that was to the detriment of both Gallagher’s vision and the team’s success. Currently, Erik Jones sits 27th in points, and John Hunter Nemechek is 31st.

This tough time is concerning for LMC if it hopes to stick further in the Cup Series. It also prompts Johnson to reconsider his decisions.

Johnson is looking back longingly

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Soon after Cup Series legend Jimmie Johnson hung up his firesuit, the spotlight was on where he would go next. Holding a glittering resume of 83 victories, including 12 crown jewel trophies, is no mean thing. Johnson entered IndyCar and spent two years learning the sport. He logged a pair of top-6 finishes in Year 2 but otherwise finished outside the top 20 more often, achieving little in the sport before creating Legacy Motor Club. However, now in hindsight, Johnson admits to a wish that he should have joined IndyCar sooner.

Recalling his IndyCar days, he said: “I really do miss it. I feel like I should’ve made the switch a few years earlier. I always have believed that you need five years – five years is the sweet spot before you really understand a given vehicle.” When Kyle Larson was trying his hand at the Double earlier in May, Jimmie Johnson was doing double duties of his own. He worked as a TV personality for NBC during the afternoon before flying to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. But he slipped a wish to be in Indianapolis at the time: “I was standing there Sunday on race day, I was thinking, ‘F***, I need to be out there.’”

Evidently, some timelines seem to have faltered within the LMC fold. Jimmie Johnson’s team owner aspirations lag even as his IndyCar aspirations pick up.