DAYTONA 500 RACE PREVIEW
EVENT: DAYTONA 500
DATE: February 16, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series / Race 1 of 36
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida / 2.5-mile Superspeedway
CLUB MINUTES
LEGACIES AT DAYTONA: Many members of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB are NASCAR Hall of Famers and also have impressive records at Daytona. Richard Petty, “The King” has the most DAYTONA 500 victories with seven (1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, and1981) and Dale Inman is undoubtedly the most successful crew chief in the history of NASCAR, with a record eight Cup Series championships and seven DAYTONA 500 victories with Petty. LEGACY MC co-owner Jimmie Johnson has scored two victories in The Great American Race in 2006 and 2013. Competition Advisor Matt Kenseth has two DAYTONA 500 wins in 2009 and 2012. CLUB Ambassador Trevor Bayne won the 2011 DAYTONA 500 at the age of 20 years and one day and is still the youngest driver ever to win the race to date.
NEW LOOK: As a result of a year-long study with branding agency Pivot, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB re-designed its brand marks and added gold design elements to its cars and marketing efforts. See HERE for more information.
WELCOME, KNIGHTHEAD: LEGACY MC announced a new ownership structure on Jan. 27, welcoming Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. The partnership allows Johnson to become the majority co-owner. To read more, visit HERE
2024 DAYTONA RECAP: The CLUB made a strong impression at the 2024 DAYTONA 500, with Nemechek coming home in seventh, marking his first of four top-10 finishes for the season. Just behind him in eighth was Jones, securing one of his two top 10s of the year. Although Johnson finished the race, he crossed the line in 28th.
ANOTHER INMAN HALL OF FAME: Dale Inman was named as an inductee into yet another Hall of Fame. He will be inducted into the 2025 class of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Inman is an inductee in several halls include: The North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame (2000 Golden Wrench Award); NASCAR Hall of Fame (2012); International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2013); and Randleman High School Hall of Fame (2016).
DAYTONA PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: The partner line-up for the DAYTONA 500 is as follows: Dollar Tree will be back on the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE; AdventHealth makes its first appearance this year on the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE; and Carvana also makes their debut at the Florida track supporting Johnson on the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE.
NO. 42 NOTES AND QUOTES
NEMECHEK AT DAYTONA: The 27-year-old Nemechek has several starts at the famed Daytona International Speedway during his NASCAR career. As he climbed up through the lower ranks of NASCAR Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, he collectively scored five top 10 finishes and two top-fives. In the NASCAR Cup Series, he has finished seventh and 15th so far at Daytona. He was also fourth in his Daytona Duel qualifier race last year. In 2020, Nemechek finished 11th in both Daytona Cup races as well.
PYE-BARKER ON THE CAR: As it was recently announced, Pye-Barker Fire and Safety will adorn the No. 42 Toyota Camry for 14 races, making its debut this weekend in Daytona with a newly designed white, green and blue paint scheme.
JH x X-GAMES x SUPER CROSS-OVERS: Nemechek has been busy over the last two weekends visiting other major national sports events. In late January, Nemechek traveled to Aspen, Colo., for ESPN’s X Games to take in all the action on the snow. This past weekend, he traveled to Tampa, Fla., for AMA Supercross where he did a jersey/firesuit swap with Motorcross superstar Ken Roczen (LINK) He was also featured on the NBC Peacock broadcast (LINK)
John Hunter Nemechek at AMA Supercross Tampa this past weekend. (Photo credit: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB)
LOCAL TIES: Chris Shuman, rear tire changer on the No. 42, grew up in St. Augustine, Fla., and traveled to Daytona often with his family. Shuman is a second-generation pit crew member, as his dad is Steve Shuman, a former tire carrier for Jimmy Spencer Jr. in the Hooters Pro Cup Series. The Shuman family went on a trip to see the race shops in North Carolina when Chris was a child. One of the race museums they visited had a flyer advertising the Pit Crew University in Mooresville, N.C., where elder Shuman applied and enrolled beginning his pit crew journey there.
Additionally, Matt Schlytter, the jackman on the No. 42 hails from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., approximately 90 miles north of Daytona.
No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB rear tire changer, Chris Shuman in action. (Photo credit: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB)
KNOW WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM: On Tuesday, Feb. 11, driver Nemechek will be participating in the Betty Jane France Memorial High-Speed Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament will be hosted in the Rolex Lounge at Daytona International Speedway benefitting The NASCAR Foundation. For more information contact Colby Gorniewicz.
NEW TO THE 42: There are many fresh faces on the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team this season. Ryan “Dex” Dextraze will serve as the car chief. Peter Shephard and Josh Horton join returning member Ricky “Carl” Garcia as mechanics. Sydney Prince is the lead engineer and Kyler Mashburn is the secondary engineer, while Hayden Reeves will be the eyes in the sky as Nemechek’s new spotter.
T- MACK AT TRACK Crew chief Travis Mack who is in his first season with LEGACY MC has a winning record at Daytona International Speedway. Mack has two top10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series with Daniel Suarez (2023) and A.J. Allmendinger (2024). He also found victory lane in 2019 with JR. Motorsports driver Michael Annett, as well as two top 10s on the Xfinity Series side
QUOTING NEMECHEK: “I am looking forward to going back to the [DAYTONA] 500; my second year with LEGACY MC and my third 500. A lot of work and preparation has gone in during the off-season. I am looking forward to getting the points races started for the 2025 season and am excited to see what we can put together for the season.”
“At the Clash, showing up and having speed right off the bat in practice was definitely a positive sign, I feel like the whole No. 42 LEGACY MC team is clicking, which it’s a brand new team with only one returning member from last season so I feel like everyone is meshing already and I look forward to continuing those relationships, build and grow them.”
“Studying the 500 is key for us and figuring out strategy – trying to make things jive that we want it to be. Daytona is one place that you would love to qualify on the pole for the 500 or qualifying on the front row and get locked in but starting in the front or starting in the back, it doesn’t really make that big of a difference when the race is 500 miles.”
QUOTING MACK: “Finishing the race for one thing, good communication, a strong car, just overall good weekend. Similar to what we had at the Clash, I know we didn’t make the race, but the team worked really well together, and we showed good speed. While it didn’t work out in the end to make the main race, but just having another weekend like the Clash would mean a lot.”
“A win at the Daytona 500 would meet the goals that we set for ourselves for the entire season in the first race. it would be huge to win for our team, and our organization and lock into the playoffs – it would be pretty impressive.”
NO. 43 NOTES AND QUOTES
JONES AT DAYTONA: Erik Jones has a solid track record at Daytona, with two top five and four top 10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The driver of the coveted No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE has also visited victory lane and earned the checkered flag during the summer Daytona race in 2018, for his first Cup Series victory. He won that race by a mere .125 seconds, passing reigning Cup Series champion, Martin Truex, Jr., on the backstretch of the last lap. In 2020, Jones won his first Busch Light Clash at Daytona International Speedway and had a best finish of third during The Great American Race. This Sunday will be Jones’ ninth start in the DAYTONA 500.
BESHORE AT DAYTONA: Crew chief Ben Beshore who is in his second year at LEGACY MC has three starts as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series for the Daytona 500 and has six total starts at Daytona International Speedway. In that time, Beshore has notched three top10 finishes with driver Kyle Busch (twice in 2022) and John Hunter Nemechek (2024). He also has two impressive Xfinity Series finishes as Harrison Burton logged a runner-up finish in 2020, and Nemechek finished second in 2023.
ADVENTHEALTH AT DAYTONA: Florida-based AdventHealth will adorn the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE this weekend at Daytona. With various activations around the speedway such as health screenings, sunscreen stations and a partnership with the Infield Medical Center, AdventHealth believes in focusing on the care and well-being of the mind, body and spirit. The new paint scheme was recently unveiled via social media. Click HERE to view.
QUOTING JONES: “Daytona’s tough. I feel like now you have to be aggressive the whole race. You have to run the front, you have to be able to control the race, you have to be able to save fuel and be in control of your destiny. The name of the game has been fuel saving and be able to go and put yourself in a situation to go race but have the track position to put yourself upfront or have an opportunity to challenge for a win.”
“I think it’s pretty fun to start the year off with the biggest race. We all look forward to the DAYTONA 500 as drivers. We’re all excited to run it every year. Just to have the opportunity to run in the race and the opportunity to win is a lot of fun.”
QUOTING BESHORE: “Daytona is a balance of drivability and pure straight-line speed. We try to make it drive as good as possible without sacrificing the ride heights that will add drag. We may prioritize more speed for the Duels and then try to make it handle a little better for a 500-mile race on Sunday.”
“When determining when to be aggressive and when to play it safe in the early stages, typically you want to be either all the way at the front or all the way at the back to be safe, but trouble can find you anywhere on the track. I tend to let the driver feel how aggressive everyone is being. If people are banging fenders at Lap five, then we will just to the back, save fuel and ride to save our stuff for the end.”
NO. 84 NOTES AND QUOTES
SEVEN-TIME IS A TWO-TIME: Jimmie Johnson knows how to win at Daytona. He has two wins in the Great American Race (2006 and 2013) as well as a win in the 400-mile summer event (2013). Johnson has a pair of wins in the Clash at Daytona (2005, 2019) and in the Duel races (2010, 2015). In Johnson’s rookie year (2002) he won the pole for the event and finished 15th, sparking a career for the ages. This weekend will be his 22nd attempt at The Great American Race.
JOHNSON AT DAYTONA: Johnson has 40 starts at Daytona throughout his Cup Series career. He has three wins, 12 top-fives, and 16 top 10s, leading 302 laps around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
JOHNSTON TEAMS UP WITH JOHNSON: Chad Johnston, LEGACY MC’s Manager of Race Engineering will climb the pit box for Johnson this weekend. He is a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief most recently working for Stewart Haas Racing with driver Ryan Preece. The Cayuga, Ind. native has 22 starts at Daytona with a multitude of drivers and has four top 10 finishes.
PRESSURE COOKER: Johnson is one of nine of the ‘Open” cars vying for four spots to make the field in the 67th running of the DAYTONA 500. Last season, he was in a similar boat and raced his way into the 500 via a nail-biting last-lap effort in the Duel qualifier race. Showing strong throughout the race, unfortunately, Johnson was caught in a wreck during the final laps of the race, finishing 28th.
JOHNSON V. SHAQ: CLUB partner Carvana always pulls out all the stops when it comes to creative car design. For this DAYTONA 500, the Phoenix-based car company and Johnson joined forces with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Johnson and Shaq engaged in a friendly free throw contest with car design rights on the line. Shaq won, and designed the scheme that will attempt the DAYTONA 500 this weekend. The design was unveiled at Shaq’s Fun House in New Orleans on February 7. LINK
NEVER SETTLE: Johnson and longtime pal Marty Smith from ESPN announced a podcast venture together, called Never Settle. The podcast drops Feb. 12 on Sirius XM Ch 90 and may be downloaded on the Sirius XM app, or wherever fans source podcasts. Click HERE for more information.
QUOTING JOHNSON: “It’s the DAYTONA 500 – anything can happen. We need to dig in hard when we get there so that first practice will be very important before qualifying. Then the game plan is to be smart and careful and make the race. Once we make the race, it’s game on.”
“We have done a great job with the promotion with Shaq – Carvana is such an amazing partner and its been an absolute blast creating this media campaign to unveil the car in New Orleans at Shaq’s Fun House. More work to do (to make the race) but we are ready for the challenge.”
QUOTING JOHNSTON: “We are going to Daytona with the mindset of making the race on time. There are multiple cars we need to worry about, so hopefully we will make it on time on Wednesday during qualifying. That will take off some pressure off for Thursday, as so many things about racing at Daytona are out of your control. The entire shop at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB has been working so hard all off-season, I’m really proud of the entire group.”
CLUB APPEARANCES
During this year’s Speedweek at Daytona, the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB will be making several appearances. See below for listings.
SHERRY STRONG CLINIC OPENING: On Friday, Feb. 14 at 9:30 am AdventHealth will be unveiling the Sherry Strong Integrative Wellness Center at the AdventHealth Daytona Beach Cancer Institute. The new holistic sanctuary, made possible by a groundbreaking partnership with the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, will address the physical, emotional, spiritual, and environmental needs of cancer patients – regardless of their ability to pay. Johnson, Jones, and Nemechek will be in attendance at the grand opening. For media opportunities contact CLUB PR.
JOHN HUNTER APPEARANCES: On race day, Nemechek will be signing autographs for fans at the NASCAR Merchandise Hauler. he will head over to the NASCAR Experience Stage in the Fan Zone for an exclusive Q&A session at 10:30 a.m.
ERIK APPEARANCE: On race day, Jones will be participating in a NASCAR Q&A session located at the Grizzly Stage/Infield Fan Zone at 10:40 a.m. This appearance is open to the public.
JONES BOOK VENDING MACHINE DONATION: For the second year, AdventHealth and the Erik Jones Foundation (EJF) have teamed up to create a book vending machine for a local elementary school. One pillar of the EJF is child literacy and encouraging reading in youth. Jones will make an appearance Friday morning at the school for a Q&A session and to promote a few of his favorite books available to kids in the vending machine. This marks the sixth vending machine the EJF has donated in the last three years. This appearance is not open to the public, but for media inquiries please contact Lauren Belk.
JIMMIE APPEARANCES: Prior to the Duel qualifier races on Feb. 13, Johnson will participate in a live broadcast for fans on SIRIUS XM at 4:30 p.m. ET in the Infield Fan Zone. He will also make an appearance on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a Q&A at the AdventHealth midway fan activation at 1:30 p.m. ET.
HOW TO WATCH
QUALIFYING: On Wednesday, Feb. 12, qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series will air on Fox Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET.
DUELS: On Thursday, Feb. 13, coverage of the Duel qualifier races at Daytona will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, and SIRIUS XM NASCAR Ch. 90.
DAYTONA 500: On Sunday, Feb. 16, coverage of the 67th Running of the DAYTONA 500 will be broadcast on FOX, Motor Racing Network, and SIRIUS XM NASCAR Ch. 90 at 2:30 p.m. ET
NASCAR DRIVER CAM: This year streaming service MAX will offer the “NASCAR Driver Cam” experience offering fans the ultimate all-access pass to every driver for every race throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. In-car cameras for LEGACY MC drivers in Daytona include the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE of Jones.
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, Jimmie Johnson. Drawing from a rich tradition of success, LEGACY MC is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of motorsport and setting new standards of excellence. The CLUB competes under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner in the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE piloted by Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE driven by John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson also races on a limited basis in the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE. With NASCAR legend and Hall of Famer Richard Petty, “The King”, serving as CLUB Ambassador, LEGACY MC blends timeless racing traditions with a new forward-thinking vision. As an inclusive community for motorsport enthusiasts, LEGACY MC honors both its storied past and the promising future of its members, always striving for victory and championship glory at the pinnacle of NASCAR competition.
