Editor’s Note: Today’s Legacy Motor Club preview begins NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2025 Cup Series season.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Manufacturer: Toyota
Engine: Toyota Gazoo Racing North America
Driver-crew chief pairings: John Hunter Nemechek-Travis Mack (No. 42); Erik Jones-Ben Beshore (No. 43)
Team outlook: Legacy Motor Club experienced its fair share of growing pains in 2024, its first season under the Toyota banner. The dawn of a new year, however, provides a clean slate with a young, speedy talent in Nemechek and a steady, quick veteran in Jones. Mack enters the company after a departure from Kaulig Racing, while Beshore and Jones enter their first full season together in Cup.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, NO. 42 TOYOTA
Experience: Two full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series
2024 stats: 34th in final Cup Series standings; 0 wins, 0 top fives, 4 top 10s
2025 championship odds (DraftKings): 400-1
Outlook: Nemechek’s return to the Cup Series featured a career-high in top-10 finishes, but those flashes left more to be desired from his results. The 27-year-old returns for his second full season with Legacy in 2025 with a new crew chief in Mack, who brings years of experience from his time at Hendrick Motorsports, JR Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing and Kaulig Racing. Nemechek produced notable runs at Bristol Motor Speedway (sixth, March 2024), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (eighth) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (ninth, October) while also leading 16 laps in his first Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Perhaps that will provide a good starting ground for a program that could use a boost in 2025.
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ERIK JONES, NO. 43 TOYOTA
Experience: Eight full seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series
2024 stats: 28th in final Cup Series standings; 0 wins, 1 top five, 2 top 10s
2025 championship odds (DraftKings): 200-1
Outlook: The 2024 campaign marked Jones’ worst statistical season at the Cup Series level, with a 22.9 average finish, 26.9 average start and just 17 lead-lap finishes. Jones also missed two races because of a back injury incurred in an April crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Crew chief Ben Beshore, who began the season with teammate Nemechek, pivoted to the No. 43 car and Jones for the final five races of 2024 with a best finish of 19th at Martinsville Speedway. Jones, a two-time winner of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, is still plenty capable of competing for wins in Cup, and a full season ahead with Beshore could put that skill on display once again.
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BOLD PREDICTION: After a year in which Nemechek and Jones combined for one top five in 70 starts, the duo will collect a combined eight in 2025. That still leaves plenty to be desired for two talented racers, but Legacy Motor Club is still finding its footing after multiple years of significant change at the organization. Jones is a threat at just about any track with the right car, and Nemechek has shown he can be effective on a multitude of track types, too. As the team continues to grow, its results should improve, if even slowly, at first.