Jimmie Johnson has only been a NASCAR Cup team owner for roughly half a year, but he’s quickly making one thing clear:
He’s willing to turn the page to be better.
That became obvious Tuesday (May 2), when an email landed in inboxes announcing the biggest surprise of the 2023 season so far.
Legacy Motor Club, the Chevrolet team Johnson became co-owner of late last year, will race under the Toyota banner starting in 2024.
Johnson’s entire NASCAR career, from his first Busch Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series) start on July 31, 1998, at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park to his most recent Cup start at Circuit of the Americas in April, has been been under the Chevrolet flag.
The 84 total wins and seven championships between Points A and B are great and all, but at this point they’re just fond memories.
Those accomplishments with Chevy aren’t helping Erik Jones‘ No. 43 and Noah Gragson‘s No. 42 go faster.
Johnson acknowledged the “deep roots,” “pride of accomplishment” and friendships established from his time with GM.
However …
“Time marches on, and there’s a moment in time here that I have with this club and with the opportunity we have as an organization,” Johnson said.
For the first time since 2001, Johnson isn’t able to enjoy the resources and equipment that come with being part of a top Cup team.
He’s a few notches down the totem pole.
Johnson realizes adaptation is necessary.
“Directionally, I think that there’s a lot that’s unknown in the future of our sport,” Johnson explained Tuesday. “We’re racing a new car and, frankly, I’m pretty new to the way we go racing now. When I left the sport, there still was some testing.
“There were other elements where teams could develop in and work through stuff on their own. The way it is positioned now, it really is a function of the OEMs collecting the information and that gets shared through the teams and through the organizations. And our deep alignment in ’24 and beyond with Toyota puts us in a very strong position to control our own destiny as an organization.”
While Legacy Motor Club is a partner of Chevrolet, Johnson made sure to note what level of a partner they are “within the framework we exist under GM.”
Unlike Hendrick Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing and Richard Childress Racing, Legacy doesn’t enjoy the status of being a “key partner.”
“We acquire engines from the…
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