LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Race Preview | Texas Motor Speedway I

CLUB ENTRY LIST

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK

POINT STANDINGS: 19th
FacebookXInstagramYouTubeWebsite

ERIK JONES

POINT STANDINGS: 20th
FacebookXInstagramWebsite

JIMMIE JOHNSON
FacebookXInstagramWebsite

CLUB NOTES

The Boss at Texas: LEGACY M.C. co-owner Jimmie Johnson holds several records at Texas Motor Speedway, including the most wins at the track (seven), most runner-up finishes (five), first among top-five finishes (16) and has led 1,152 laps.

Epic battle: One of the best memories of Johnson’s seven wins at Texas was his first win and the hard-fought battle with LEGACY M.C’s competition advisor Matt Kenseth. The 2007 event saw Kenseth and Johnson door-to-door battle down to the stripe.

Last time at Texas: The last time Johnson raced at Texas Motor Speedway was in INDYCAR in 2022. He started 18th, spun out on Lap 2, then made his way back through the entire field, to narrowly miss a top-five finish in the closing laps. Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, overtook Johnson who ended up finishing sixth.

Nemechek knows Texas, X 2: Last time at Texas Motor Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek made the winning pass in his ROMCO Toyota Camry Xfinity Series ride with seven laps remaining in the event to claim his seventh victory of the 2023 season. He led 38 of 200 laps, and won by 1.005-seconds – for his second win at the 1.5-mile Texas track.

Front Row JH: Nemechek has led in his last three attempts at Texas Motor Speedway in the Xfinity Series, totaling 86 laps. Two of the three races resulted in a trip to Victory Lane in 2021 and 2023. Nemechek has only finished outside of the top-10 once at Fort Worth.

SWAU: AdventHealth will host a series of educational panels for Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) students in Keene, Texas, located just outside Dallas. These panels will focus on various professions in the world of racing, including a separate panel on driver backgrounds. Ahead of this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, AdventHealth will host LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s VP of Race Operations, Joey Cohen, for a brief panel. The second panel, hosted by David Weis, CEO of AdventHealth Daytona Beach, will include LEGACY M.C. drivers Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones.

Family Dollar Gold Star: Primary partner Family Dollar will honor store #1907 this weekend as a part of the company’s “Go For G.O.L.D.” (Grand Opening Look Daily) program. The Dollar Tree and Family Dollar primaries will highlight these stores on the deck lid of all three LEGACY M.C. entries throughout the race season.

Last Run: During the 2023 race in the Lone Star State, Jones and the No. 43 put together a strong day. The team qualified 12th and steadily moved up the scoring pylon, earning a second-place finish in stage two while running most of the race in the top five. Unfortunately, Jones was collected in a wreck with just 12 laps to go after an issue on pit road set him back a handful of spots on the restart. Jones, slated for a top-five finish, was credited with finishing 30th.

Triple Duty: On November 8th, 2015, Jones became the youngest driver to complete triple duty at Texas Motor Speedway. Jones kicked off the race weekend, winning the truck series race on Friday after starting in fifth position and leading for 117 laps. On Saturday, Jones competed in the Xfinity Series race, starting third and finishing fourth. To cap off a weekend full of racing, Jones qualified sixth and finished 12th in his second career NASCAR Cup Series race. Jones raced a total of 1,021.5 miles that weekend.

Quality Numbers: Jones has strung together a handful of solid races at Texas Motor Speedway, leading laps in seven of his last nine races. Jones has led 116 laps, all following the reconfiguration in 2017. In his most recent attempt at the 1.5-mile oval, Jones qualified 12th while running most of the race in the top five. With just over 20 laps to go, Jones was collected in a wreck on the front stretch and credited with a 30th-place result.

Xfinity: Jones put on a show in the Xfinity Series at Texas Motor Speedway, collecting three wins in six attempts. Jones led 368 laps, including two starts from the pole in 2015 and 2017, while never finishing outside the top five. Jones holds an average start of 1.8 and an average finish of 2.2.

Spring has Sprung: The Jones family took advantage of the warmer weather late last week and began tilling their home garden. This will supply the Jones family (including Oscar and Biscuit) with plenty of garden-fresh vegetables through the spring and summer.

Q&A: Jones will join competitor Tyler Reddick for a Q&A on Sunday at the NASCAR Fan Zone stage from 11:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

CLUB QUOTES

John Hunter Nemechek, Driver of the No. 42 ROMCO Toyota Camry XSE:

“We’ve had some great runs at Texas over the years in the Xfinity Series. I’m excited to have ROMCO back on the car this weekend so I hope that we can give them a good showing. Ever since the repave I have been fast there – the track really just suits my driving style. The Next Gen car is different and I am still learning it but Erik was fast there last year and Jimmie is going to be with us this weekend so we have some great notes.”

Ben Beshore, Crew chief of the No. 42 ROMCO Toyota Camry XSE:

“We had one race in Vegas on the mile-and-a-half tracks but had an issue on pit road. Our speed was ok, we left Vegas knowing we had to work on our short run and traffic but once we get that dialed in we should be ok. John Hunter is really good at Texas with multiple wins in two different series so we should have a good day.”

Erik Jones, Driver of the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE:

What is it about Texas that fits your driving style so well?

“Texas has always been a good track for me, even before the reconfiguration in 2017. We were able to win there in the Xfinity Series and have carried that success to the Cup Series after the reconfiguration. I feel like the reconfiguration has changed it, but for me, it seems like a lot of the things that you could do on the old track still somewhat apply to the new track. I just have a good feel; I feel comfortable there, and I feel like I have had good cars that have given me the opportunity to run well there, run up front, and be fast. We had a really strong car in the fall, I am hoping we can have similar speed at Texas this weekend.”

Dave Elenz, Crew chief of the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE:

What makes Texas such a good track for Erik?

“I think Texas is a good track for Erik because it takes discipline to run there, with the corners being as different as they are. Turns three and four have a lot of wide-open throttle and a lot of confidence to get through that corner and then get into one and two. It is definitely more technical, and I think Erik does a good job pairing those two together to really exploit the speed at Texas.”

What have you learned about the track since the reconfiguration in 2017?

“Since we have had the configuration change at Texas, we have really changed the racing there. It has made for unique setups and compromises that you don’t have to make at other intermediate tracks. You get a car that is trimmed out enough to have the speed down the straightaway in three and four, but handle through one and two as well.”

Jimmie Johnson, Driver of the No. 84 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE:

“Texas is a place that has very special memories for me. I am looking forward to seeing how this car handles on the track and just getting back behind the wheel of the AdventHealth Toyota Camry. This is the first of a few race stretch for me as a driver – Texas has always been good to me.”

Jason Burdett, Crew chief of the No. 84 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE:

With Jimmie’s success at Texas, where is your comfort level with him in the NextGen car this weekend?

“I think Jimmie has some confidence going into Texas based on his run at Charlotte last year. He felt like he ran well there and had a good feel on the ovals with this car. Obviously, that was a different track than Texas, and now a new car with Toyota. So, I feel like we will learn a lot this week in the simulator, with him being able to get in there, make some laps, and build some confidence in what we have.”

What are your overall goals for the weekend?

“Our overall goal as a team is to go there and have a car that can drive well for Jimmie so that he has a good comfort level and can go out there, race with everybody, and learn what it is like to race with the NextGen car. Obviously, this year, he has seven more opportunities on ovals after this weekend. Hopefully, we can go out and have a solid day, run all of the laps, show some speed, and build some confidence going into Dover, Kansas, and back to Charlotte. I think we have opportunities this year to keep building on this, where it is not just one race, and see what happens. We can build up for him, and he can continue to grow.”

LMC PR