Legacy Motor Club announced Tuesday that the organization will be moving its manufacturer from Chevrolet to Toyota starting in 2024. A surprising move for several reasons.
The move will add the smallest fleet in NASCAR, growing it from six cars on the grid to eight. Both Ford and Chevy field 18 cars each.
Legacy Motor Club was formed with the remnants of Richard Petty Motorsports and the GMS Racing team which became Petty GMS December 2021 when GMS team owner Maury Gallagher purchased a majority stake in Petty. The organization was joined by retired champion Jimmie Johnson as a part-owner last November and was rebranded as Legacy M.C. in January.
When Richard Petty was in sole control of his team he raced Fords, Dodges, and Chevys. Petty has been in conversations before with Toyota most recently in 2017, but those talks didn’t pan out to the team moving to Toyota.
In a Cup career spanning 21 years Johnson raced nothing but Chevrolets. GMS Racing, founded in 2011, has also campaigned Chevrolets exclusively. GMS still fields a team in the NASCAR Truck series and Tuesday’s announcement made no mention of what the team will run in 2024.
Toyota has made no secret of its desire to grow its stable. President of Toyota Racing Development, David Wilson once said however that they wanted “quality over quantity” for its Cup Series. Currently Joe Gibbs Racing fields four teams and shares a technical alliance with 23XI Racing which fields two teams. All the teams train their pit crews through Toyota.
Both of Legacy’s fulltime drivers have a history with Toyota. Both Erik Jones and rookie Noah Gragson came into NASCAR through Toyota’s driver development program.
Since Johnson joined the organization, Richard Petty has assumed the role of team ambassador. Earlier this year, Petty seemed to indicate that there was tension within the new ownership structure.
“It’s been strange to me,” Petty said at Daytona in February. “Most of the time, I ran the majority of the show. Jimmie brought all his people in. His way of running things and my way of running things are probably a little bit different. We probably agree on about 50% of what it really comes down to.”
He added that Johnson’s crew now fully controls the team’s front office, “They don’t take over the racing part, they take over the front office. With sponsorships, appearances, and all that stuff, Jimmie’s crowd is kind of controlling that. That’s something I never had to put up with, I guess”.
The real reasons for the move may never be fully known. For now, at least, all is right in the world according to PR speak.
“Maury Gallagher and I are very excited about the partnership with Toyota and TRD beginning in 2024,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the move. “We admire and respect the level at which Toyota conducts their business in this sport and look forward to forging a new legacy for the future. I will always be appreciative to Chevrolet and everything we have accomplished together. I’m so thankful they took a chance on a kid from California so long ago and proud that the history books will forever memorialize our record-breaking success we shared.”
For Toyota’s part David Wilson seemed pleased with the move.
“We are humbled and delighted to welcome LEGACY MOTOR CLUB into the Toyota and TRD NASCAR family,” said Wilson in the same statement. “Jimmie Johnson and Maury Gallagher have impressed us with their long-term vision and commitment to building a championship caliber organization. More importantly, their character and values are aligned with ours and our current Cup Series partners, Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing. Of course, we also look forward to being reunited with our old friends, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.