Editor’s note: Today’s Legacy Motor Club preview continues NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2026 Cup Series season.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Manufacturer: Toyota
Engine: Toyota Racing Development
Driver-crew chief pairings: John Hunter Nemechek-Travis Mack (No. 42); Erik Jones-Justin Alexander (No. 43)
Team outlook: As Legacy Motor Club begins its third year as a Toyota team, it has continued to evolve both in leadership roles and performance on track. The 2025 season produced the best overall statistical showings for the team’s two full-time drivers in Jones and Nemechek. Two team drivers scored top-10 finishes in the same race three times last season — a significant sign of progress. Team owner, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson — who will again compete in a handful of selected races — earned one of Legacy’s best showings of the season with a third-place effort in the season-opening Daytona 500. The mark was matched later by Jones at Darlington Raceway during the Southern 500. Expectations are raised for the 2026 season, with both Jones and Nemechek hoping to seriously contend for wins and take a true step toward Legacy’s first championship bid.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, NO. 42 TOYOTA
Experience: 3 full-time seasons in NASCAR Cup Series; 113 starts
2025 stats: 25th in final Cup Series standings; 0 wins, 2 top fives, 8 top 10s, 0 poles, 37 laps led
Driver outlook: The talented second-generation NASCAR standout is coming off his best season in the Cup Series statistically. In his first full year with crew chief Travis Mack leading the team, Nemechek’s eight top-10 efforts doubled his previous best total, and the 28-year-old earned the first two top-five finishes of his career. His fifth-place showing in the season-opening Daytona 500 set the tone, and a fourth-place finish in another landmark event, September’s Southern 500, was a career high mark. It all points to important progress — for the team and for Nemechek, who has contended for championships previously in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series. The 37 laps he led in 2025 were also a career high mark and speak well for the team’s potential after only one season of the Nemechek-Mack duo. Four times last year, they put together back-to-back top 10s, showing the kind of consistency they hope to improve upon in 2026. With his 25th-place finish in the title run a personal best, hoisting that first winner’s trophy in the Cup Series is a legitimate goal for this highly-capable driver and team.
MORE: John Hunter Nemechek driver page
ERIK JONES, NO. 43 TOYOTA
Experience: 9 full-time seasons in NASCAR Cup Series; 325 starts
2025 stats: 24th in final Cup Series standings; 0 wins, 4 top fives, 5 top 10s, 0 poles, 11 laps led
Driver outlook: While he did not win a race, Jones improved statistically over 2024, finishing four positions higher in the championship (24) and raising his top-five (four) and top-10 (five) finishes relative to the year prior. Jones’ 11 laps led (coming in only two races), however, were uncharacteristic as a three-time Cup Series winner (with the most recent coming in 2022 at Darlington) and former Craftsman Truck Series champion. The 29-year-old holds high expectations and hopes, however, that a new crew chief this season in Justin Alexander will help deliver sooner rather than later. Huge victories in the Daytona 500 (2018) and Coca-Cola 500 (2017) are on a successful resume for Alexander, who moves to Legacy from Richard Childress Racing.
MORE: Erik Jones driver page