(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Press Release | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
PLANO, Texas (May 2, 2023) – Toyota is pleased to announce a partnership with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB beginning with the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) season. With LEGACY M.C. two entries, Toyota will field eight full-time Toyota Camry TRD’s in NCS action starting next season.
“All of us at Toyota are thrilled to add LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to our NASCAR family,” said Jack Hollis, Executive Vice President of TMNA (Toyota Motor North America) and President of Toyota Motor Sales. “While Toyota’s tenure in NASCAR has yielded on-track success, our proudest accomplishments are those relationships that have been built off the racetrack. Jimmie Johnson and Maury Gallagher along with the great club that LEGACY M.C. is assembling, will be a great addition to our existing Cup Series team partners with Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing who are truly part of our family.”
LEGACY M.C. is co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and businessman Maury Gallagher. Johnson’s NASCAR legacy ranks him amongst the series’ best drivers, as the California-native ranks sixth all-time in NASCAR Cup Series victories with 83, along with his seven championships, five of which happened in consecutive years (2006-2010). Johnson owns two Daytona 500 victories (2006, 2013) and four All-Star Race wins (2003, 2006, 2012, 2013). Gallagher has achieved his own success on the track with his GMS Racing team. GMS Racing owns two NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championships (2016 and 2020) along with 65 race wins across six national racing circuits. Johnson partnered with Gallagher’s Petty GMS team at the end of the 2022 season and guided the rebrand to LEGACY M.C. beginning with the 2023 racing year. Adding to the legacy of the organization is team ambassador, Richard Petty, ‘The King.’ Petty etched his name into NASCAR’s history with his seven championships and an incredible 200 wins.
“Maury Gallagher and I are very excited about the partnership with Toyota and TRD beginning in 2024,” said LEGACY M.C. co-owner Jimmie Johnson. “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.”
Toyota has achieved its own legacy in NASCAR as it celebrates its 20th season in national NASCAR competition this year. With nearly 600 victories across NASCAR’s top three divisions, Toyota has truly made a mark in its short tenure in the sport. Toyota’s Christopher Bell leads the Cup Series in top-five and top-10 finishes, while four Camry drivers currently hold top-10 positions in the point standings, which is tied for the most with any manufacturer. Its winning legacy includes such drivers as Kyle & Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., all of whom rank amongst NASCAR’s most legendary drivers. Toyota’s legacy in the sport is not only at NASCAR’s top level as the manufacturer continues to give young drivers opportunities to exceed with its extensive driver development program.
“We are humbled and delighted to welcome LEGACY MOTOR CLUB into the Toyota and TRD NASCAR family,” said David Wilson, President of TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development). “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.”
Part of Toyota’s legacy includes both of LEGACY M.C.’s current drivers. Gragson made both his NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) debuts with Toyota. Gragson ran 47 races across three seasons with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NCTS, earning two victories – Martinsville (2017) and Kansas (2018). The Las Vegas-native finished second in the NCTS standings in 2018 – the same season he made his NXS debut, where he finished an impressive second at Richmond Raceway in April of that year driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Jones made history while with Team Toyota as he is the first driver in NASCAR history to earn Rookie of the Year in all three national series. He made his Toyota debut in the NCTS in 2013 and won later that year in his fifth career start at Phoenix Raceway. Jones later earned the NCTS championship in 2015, which is the same season he earned his first NXS win at Texas Motor Speedway. He later moved to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he earned two wins while competing for Joe Gibbs Racing – Daytona in July 2018 and Darlington in September 2019.
The eight full-time Toyota Camry TRD entries are the most Toyota supported entries to compete in the NCS since 2011.
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