By Cole Cusumano, Staff Writer
When Jimmie Johnson joined forces with fellow seven-time champion Richard Petty and business entrepreneur Maury Gallagher to become a team owner in the NASCAR Cup Series, he had a vision to take a struggling organization to new heights with a full rebrand and wholesale changes. Still winless since transitioning to Legacy Motor Club, the past two seasons have remained a challenge, but there’ve been a handful of stand-out showings to provide some optimism – like the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For the first time since switching manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota, Legacy M.C. put on a show on one of motorsports’ biggest stages, before crashing back down to what’s been a harsh reality. With speed prevalent from the beginning of the weekend and throughout crown jewel event, it wasn’t a matter of the lights being too bright. However, results are what’s remembered, casting a negative shadow on a positive day.
John Hunter Nemechek carried the banner for Legacy Motor Club at the infamous 2.5-mile oval from a competitive standpoint throughout the on-track activities. In qualifying, he laid down the 10th-fastest time, earning him his first top-10 starting spot since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
For the scheduled distance of the 400-mile race, Nemechek easily had one of the most consistent and successful starts in the field. After ending the first segment in 13th, the 24-time national series winner improved to fifth once Stage Two concluded, but he wasn’t done yet.
In a race that saw 18 lead changes — the most since on the Indy oval since 2013 — Nemechek led twice for a total of 16 laps, including a handful in the final stage. This was not only the most laps the No. 42 had led on a non-superspeedway since Kansas Speedway in 2019, but it also became the first time in the 27-year-old’s Cup career he led multiple laps in a single race.
Unfortunately, going into the first of two overtime attempts, Nemechek got clipped by Daniel Hemric on the frontstretch entering Turn 1 while running 14th, after a line of cars stacked up in front of him and he was forced to check up going into the corner. Instead of challenging for his fourth top-10 of the season, he had to settle for a 29th-place outing.
“I changed lanes there after the start/finish line (and) went to the bottom,” Nemechek said. “I had a pretty good run. Everyone started checking up going into (turn) one. I checked up and I think I got hooked in the left-rear. Not really sure, (I) moved down and I think Daniel (Hemric) got me. It stinks. Our Pye Barker Toyota Camry XSE was really fast today. We led laps. Not leading laps just in a speedway race, actually leading laps there.
“Proud of all the guys,” Nemechek added. “Proud of the effort. That was a really hard hit. But overall, really excited for a couple weeks off after the last few weeks. But, proud I’ve been able to show speed three of the last five weeks. Looking forward to getting back after the break and seeing what we can do.”
One would never suspect it after seeing the results, but seven-time champ and co-owner Johnson unequivocally put together his most competitive outing in his ninth start driving the seventh-generation car.
Johnson, who retired from full-time Cup racing back in 2020 to pursue IndyCar, has been vocal in advocating for more practice since returning at a limited capacity. Just like old times, the seven-time champ got his wish with a full, 50-minute session and actually amassed the 9th-fastest 10-lap average speed.
After qualifying 33rd, Johnson was one the biggest movers by the end of the opening stage, improving nine positions. While the four-time Brickyard winner was scored 24th, he was also the highest-running driver among active Cup winners on the Indianapolis oval over Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
Following varying strategy calls, Johnson and his No. 84 team firmly inserted themselves into the top-20 running order for a majority of the second segment, before impressively racing their way into the top-15 by the end of the stage.
With 50 laps to go, NASCAR’s G.O.A.T made his presence known when he battled all the way up to 11th. Then, the inevitable happened.
On an aggressive restart, in which Johnson lined up on the inside lane of the sixth row, Carson Hocevar forced his Chevrolet into the middle of a three-wide situation between the No. 84 and Ryan Blaney entering Turn 1. Unaware of the No. 77, the reigning champ turned down across the nose of the Camaro, clipped the Carvana-sponsored Toyota Camry XSE, thus putting an end to Johnson and teammate Joey Logano’s days.
On a day where Johnson was at his best and should’ve easily improved upon his previous best finish of 28th in the Next-Gen era, he was left finishing where he started the race in 33rd.
“I was cruising along on the bottom and got hit in the right-rear and got turned into the outside fence at that point,” Johnson said. “Those restarts are just so aggressive. Everybody is pushing to get to the end of the race and it’s go time. Sadly, those pushes didn’t line up right. I don’t know what started that but something on the outside happened, and they collected me and off and around we went.
“It was great to be back,” Johnson added. “Our cars were driving nice all weekend. Unfortunately, in qualifying, we just missed our balance, but (were) very competitive in the race. We drove from 33rd to 17th, and then actually got to 11th there. All-in-all, a strong Carvana Camry, and it felt nice behind the wheel. I’m starting to understand the Next Gen vehicle. I think our group is starting to understand what we need for the cars.”
Unironically, in typical Erik Jones fashion, the three-time Cup winner silently pieced together the best finish for Legacy M.C., coming home right ahead of Nemechek in 28th as the last car on track that didn’t crash. Although not much to show for a painfully uneventful day at Indianapolis – and speaking on the uptick in performance – Jones did finish top-15 last weekend at Pocono, after placing top-10 in both stages.
There’s still a long way to go before Legacy Motor Club is where Johnson wants it to be competitively, but there is at least a silver lining following a strong day on track and a bad race on paper.