STATESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 23, 2023) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB today announced NASCAR veteran Todd Gordon to crew chief seven-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson’s limited racing schedule in the No. 84 Chevrolet. Additionally, the team announced a contract extension with Dave Elenz, to remain as crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 43 Chevrolet through 2025. Elenz and Gordon will work alongside NASCAR Rookie of the Year candidate Noah Gragson, crew chief Luke Lambert and the No. 42 team.
As with many professionals in the motorsports industry, Gordon, 53, started out as a driver, racing limited supermodifieds at Oswego Speedway near his hometown of Camden, N.Y. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University and after hanging up the helmet, pursued a career in NASCAR. Gordon began working in the Busch (now Xfinity) Series as a fabricator and mechanic in 1998. From 2004 to 2011, Gordon worked as a crew chief for multiple teams in the Xfinity Series accumulating seven pole positions, seven wins, 18-top five and 43 top-10 finishes joining Team Penske in 2011.
At the start of the 2013 season, Gordon was matched with driver Joey Logano, leading the team to 21 wins, a NASCAR All-Star race win in 2017 and the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship. In the final two seasons of his career as a crew chief, Gordon was paired with Ryan Blaney, winning four races, before announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Throughout his successful career at NASCAR’s highest level, he is credited with 18 pole positions, 25 race wins, 123 top-five and 199 top-10 finishes. Gordon currently works as a radio sportscaster on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and is a co-host of “Late Shift” on the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel. Once fierce competitors on the track, Gordon and Johnson will navigate the limited racing schedule starting with the DAYTONA 500.
“I’m really looking forward to working with another champion that still has the desire to compete and win at the highest level,” said Gordon. “In my conversations with Jimmie, I found we both miss the competition – but don’t want the grind of a full-time schedule – so this is a great opportunity for us to still race and help LEGACY MOTOR CLUB build on the success they saw in 2022.”
“Having the pressure of ‘making the race’ through qualifying and the Duel races is going to be a little stressful with a car that Jimmie and I haven’t worked with yet,” Gordon continued. “But the team had really good cars on superspeedways last season, so we have great resources, great teammates and a good starting point.”
Johnson echoes Gordon’s excitement and anticipation of the season ahead.
“I’m thrilled to have Todd come on board as my crew chief,” said Johnson. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him over the last few weeks. I have known and respected him as a competitor for many years and have always appreciated his professionalism, work ethic and results. His wisdom and experience will be beneficial to LEGACY M.C. as a whole. I believe he will work very well with Dave, Luke and the entire team.”
The 2023 season marks the sophomore year for the pairing of Erik Jones and Dave Elenz under the banner of the No. 43 made famous by Richard Petty. In their first season together, the duo racked up one win at Darlington in the Southern 500, three top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.
Elenz, 41, is a native of Gaylord, Mich., and graduate of Clemson University. He began his career in 2001 as an engineer. Elenz worked at Jasper Racing, Ginn Racing and Red Bull Racing Team before joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2012. While at Hendrick, Elenz was Johnson’s team engineer on the No. 48 team and together they won the 2013 NASCAR Cup Series title. In 2015, Elenz joined JR Motorsports’ Xfinity Series team as a crew chief. There, Elenz found much success winning 15 races with six different drivers and back-to-back Xfinity Series titles with William Byron in 2017 and Tyler Reddick in 2018. After leading the No. 9 car driven by (Noah) Gragson for three seasons, Elenz joined LEGACY M.C. to crew chief Jones at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
“I’m excited to continue my career for 2023 and beyond at LEGACY M.C.,” said Elenz. “We had a great season last year thanks to Erik and everyone at the team. There is a lot of excitement and opportunity right now at LEGACY M.C. and I’m really looking forward to getting back to the track.”
“The amount of talent and pedigree of people we have at LEGACY M.C. is really impressive,” remarked Team President Mike Beam. “I really can’t wait to get to the track and see what we can accomplish together. Maury (Gallagher), Jimmie, Joey Cohen and I have been working really hard over the off-season to put the right people in place. The experience that comes with these championship-winning crew chiefs and drivers will help us continue the legacy that Maury and I built with GMS Racing and Richard (Petty) and Dale (Inman) built with Richard Petty Motorsports and will move LECACY M.C. forward.”
LEGACY M.C. is participating in a two-day NASCAR sanctioned test at Phoenix Raceway on Jan. 24-25 with Jones and Johnson. This is the first time Johnson and Gordon will experience the Next Gen car before hitting the track in Daytona next month.
The NASCAR Cup Series season will begin in Los Angeles, California at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, February 5th, for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum. Tune-in to FOX at 8:00 PM ET as LEGACY MOTOR CLUB makes its highly anticipated official on-track debut in the exhibition race ahead of the 65th-annual DAYTONA 500.
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a team that competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, owned by Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson. LEGACY M.C. operates two full-time entries, the No. 42 Chevrolet of Noah Gragson and the No. 43 Chevrolet of Erik Jones. The team also fields a third part-time entry, the No. 84 Chevrolet, for Johnson’s limited racing schedule.
For the last 75 years, the iconic Petty family name has been synonymous in NASCAR, spanning four generations. Over the course of his driving career, Team Ambassador Richard Petty forever enshrined himself as “The King”, earning 200 wins and seven NASCAR Cup Series championships alongside NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief Dale Inman. GMS Racing entered the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, later acquiring Richard Petty Motorsports to form Petty GMS.
The team was rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in 2023 with the addition of Johnson, another seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, to the ownership structure. As a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for the automobile racing enthusiast, fostering a team environment that will breed success for years to come. LEGACY M.C.’s vision is to honor the rich history of its past and acknowledge the future of the sport with some of today’s most iconic drivers.
LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing, which fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS Racing in 2012, Gallagher, along with one of the NASCAR garage’s most accomplished figures, Team President, Mike Beam, built a victorious organization, capturing the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships, the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, as well as the 2019 & 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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