DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Since seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson entered the ownership ranks of the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s been a struggle.
But Legacy Motor Club had the best night of its existence on the biggest stage of all: Sunday’s (Feb. 16) 2025 Daytona 500. Johnson (third) and John Hunter Nemechek (fifth) notched the team’s first double top five of its existence. Additionally, Erik Jones finished 12th, as the team got three cars in the top 15 for the first time.
“It’s amazing,” Johnson said. “Two of the Legacy Motor Club cars in the top five. Great way to start the season. I had Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] on the hood. I hope he was watching. I hope he’s excited. Just an incredible experience this whole week.”
The result capped off a Speedweeks that featured Jones finishing runner-up in his Daytona 500 Duel and looked heads-and-tails more competitive than in last season.
“The cars have had speed,” Johnson said. “A lot of good things going on, so just thrilled.”
In the first two seasons of Legacy’s existence, it had just two top fives. Johnson and Nemechek have doubled that amount after Sunday’s performance. For Nemechek, it was his first career top five in 78 Cup starts.
“I feel really good,” Nemechek told Frontstretch. “To have two Legacy Motor Club cars in the top five is a really solid day. A really solid Speedweeks for Legacy Motor Club in general.
“Proud of the [No.] 42 group, proud of everyone as far as all of the help and work and dedication that was put in over the offseason. A lot of good hires. I was excited for 2025, and this makes me even more excited.”
For Johnson, it was his first top five since 2020, his last full-time season. In fact, the result was Johnson’s first top 25 since becoming co-owner and part-time driver for Legacy.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Johnson said. “I didn’t dream of an experience like this before to be an owner and finish well in your own car. This is all new, so it’s hard to put the emotions into words.”
For Johnson, the night was less about his own result and more about the team’s overall success. He wanted doubters of that to know afterward.
“I love racing,” Johnson said. “A long time ago, my give-a-shit meter broke, and I’m not here for me. I know other people have had different opinions, but I’m not here for me. I have great support from Carvana, Toyota, Family Dollar, AdventHealth, a lot of people that believe in this team and believe where we’re going to go. And I was able to get a top three tonight.”
To get the finishes, the three Legacy cars had to survive a chaotic ending that featured a spinning Denny Hamlin after the leaders collided.
“Well, I watched Days of Thunder, and they said in there when there’s the smoke, you just stand on it and go,” Johnson said. “I saw the 11 car [Hamlin] and the smoke going across the track, and it looked like his car was gonna stay up there for a while. And I pinned it and then just tried to get skinny on the way through and hope that the tail of his car didn’t catch me on the way back by.”
His teammates followed close behind, reaping the rewards of missing the wreck. Last year, Jones finished 28th in points while Nemechek was 34th. Leaving Daytona International Speedway, all three Legacy drivers are inside the top 10 in points.
“Yeah, it feels good,” Nemechek said. “You can put yourself in a really big hole here in Daytona, and we didn’t do that. We came out on the other side.”
Still, Daytona can be prone to having fluke performances, and Legacy needs to back up that performance as the Cup Series goes to other venues.
For now, they’re still reveling in their opening act.
“That’s tremendous,” Johnson said. “Two in the top five. The reality is we’re not on a normal track, a typical track, but I think our plate stuff is quite strong. Toyota has put a huge effort into that over the offseason. I’m very optimistic, very excited.”
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020. Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.
Wow! Maybe J-Jo should consider a full time schedule now seeing as how he seems to have figured out the new car?