Erik Jones Explains how Jimmie Johnson, the owner, transformed LEGACY M.C.

Jimmie Johnson will drive the No:84 Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the 2023 Daytona 500, marking his return.

Erik Jones Explains how Jimmie Johnson, the owner, transformed LEGACY M.C.

Erik jones No:43 LEGACY MC Chevy

The team that underwent the most radical changes before the 2023 Cup season might be the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Petty GMS Racing was rebranded as LEGACY M.C. after 7 times cup champion Jimmie Johnson joined the team as co-owner and part-time driver.

With Erik Jones’s impressive win during the playoff last season and the consistent runs he produced, the Chevy team has established itself as a strong contender for race wins. Having JJ and Richard Petty in their garage as mentors Jones and his new teammate, rookie Noah Gregson has no excuses to fail if their cars don’t give up on them.

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Johnson, considered one of the sport’s greatest racing minds, has brought many changes to the team, and chief among those is the increased sponsorship interest from the team’s partners. In a recent interview, Erik Jones, who drives the iconic No:43 car, revealed that Johnson has brought in a new structure with goals for the future.

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“We’ve been trying to shore up some new partners and some new people coming on. I think the structure and the organization of what Jimmie wants for the future is kind of a somewhat long-term plan. The marketing side of things is what’s been the biggest shift so far,” Erik Jones said.

According to Jones, Jimmie is also more involved as an an-owner than as a driver and described his presence during the LA Clash. He said,  “He really stayed out of the way. I saw Jimmie, I think, one time the whole weekend. He came in the hauler on Sunday morning, hung out, chatted for a minute, and went right to work. He had a lot of people there, a handful of guests up in a suite that he was kind of hanging with,”.

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Erik Jones on Richard Petty’s legacy after re-branding

Erick Jones and Richard Petty
Erick Jones and Richard Petty

The NASCAR Cup series will not have a Car with the Petty name for the first time in half a century. The decision to exclude Petty’s name while choosing the new name has been met with criticism from the NASCAR world. But Jones believes the name change doesn’t change anything as Petty’s legacy is more than just an engraving. He also shared his hope that he could get the No:43 teams to new heights.

“There is still a lot of homage to pay there to ‘The King’ and, obviously, The King is still around and at the race track every week. I think there is an important legacy there that we want to honor on the 43,” Erik Jones said.

“There’s no sense of moving on from that or trying to do something different. I think we know what the (No.) 43 means to a lot of different people in the sport. There’s been a handful of guys since ‘The King’ drove it last in the early ‘90s, but I want to be able to hopefully make my own mark in it, too,” Erik Jones added.

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