CLUB MINUTES
JIMMIE JOHNSON HISTORY AT HOMESTEAD: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner Jimmie Johnson secured his historic seventh championship with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2016. This win remains his only triumph at the track and cemented his place in history, tying him with Dale Earnhardt Sr. and CLUB ambassador Richard Petty, “The King,” for the most championships.
THE SOUTHERNMOST TUNNEL: In 2020, during Johnson’s final season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, Homestead-Miami Speedway paid tribute to him by renaming the turn-three tunnel. Located off Palm Drive, this tunnel holds the distinction of being the southernmost tunnel in the United States and is now called “Jimmie Johnson’s Southernmost Tunnel.”
VEGAS RECAP: John Hunter Nemechek started at the rear of the field in 36th due to a throttle body change but steadily advanced through the race, overcoming handling issues and strategic pit stops to finish 20th. Despite minor damage from a multi-car incident, the No. 42 team capitalized on late-race adjustments and fresh tires to gain 16 positions from the start. Erik Jones started fifth but battled handling issues and an ill-timed pit entry early on, finishing Stage 1 in 15th. Despite a strategic two-tire call and overcoming damage from a multi-car incident, he managed to finish 27th, one lap down.
BACKSTREET’S BACK (IN MERCH!): Rev up your style with this exclusive John Hunter Nemechek x Backstreet Boys T-shirt! Featuring a bold design that merges high-speed NASCAR action with the iconic Backstreet Boys, this tee is a must-have for racing and music fans alike. With vibrant graphics showcasing Nemechek’s car and a nod to the legendary boy band, this shirt brings the best of both worlds – fast cars and timeless hits. Perfect for race day or a concert night, this limited-edition tee lets you show off your fandom in style! Click HERE to purchase.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: Nemechek will pilot the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE at Homestead-Miami Speedway. LEGACY MC teammate Jones will be behind the wheels of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!: “Big Rick” Rozier celebrates a birthday on Tuesday, March 18th. Rozier is the fueler on the No. 42 LEGACY MC entry driven by John Hunter Nemechek.
NEVER SETTLE: This week on Never Settle, Johnson and Marty Smith talk through the on-track action at Las Vegas and the solid showing for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Never Settle drops on Wednesdays and airs on SIRIUS XM NASCAR Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET each week.
42 NOTES AND QUOTES:
JHN STATS: In 2023 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nemechek made his debut with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in the No. 42 car, shortly after being announced as the team’s future driver. Across NASCAR’s three national series, Nemechek has made 14 starts—five in the NASCAR Cup Series, three in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and five in the NASCAR Truck Series. In these races, he has recorded three top-five finishes, including a runner-up result in the Truck Series race.
T-MACK STATS: Travis Mack has served as crew chief for 161 NASCAR Cup Series races, including three at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he has secured three top 15 finishes and one top 10 finish—all with Daniel Suárez. In addition to his Cup Series experience, Mack has also competed in four NASCAR Xfinity Series races, earning two top-10 finishes.
QUOTING JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK:
“Homestead is a place I look forward to going to every year. I love being able to have options of where to run on the race track, whether that is on the bottom, or in the middle or around the fence. I really enjoy being able to run the fence primarily at Homestead, but it can also reach out and bite you. I think that the No. 43 has had really good speed in qualifying the last couple of weeks so that is something that the No. 42 Pye-Barker team and myself have to look at to get better, but all in all, we’ve been able to race halfway decent. I think that there are some key learnings from Vegas in a mile and a half program that we can implement going into this weekend to try and make our cars better. Also racing under the sun definitely makes Homestead slick, I feel like temperatures are going to be a little bit cooler than they have been in the past when we’ve been down there so that could play a factor in it as well.”
QUOTING TRAVIS MACK:
“I feel that we learned a lot last weekend at Vegas – going to the first mile and a half with John Hunter [Nemechek] trying to make the car similar to, we learned a lot from his driving style vs. Erik [Jones] driving style and what [John Hunter] needs in the car. We worked to try to understand where he wants the balance. We made some wrong adjustments last week going into the race but we learned from it and got the car better for Stage 3 and this week.
We are going to try to keep all the speed in the car that we can and try to work around that and make the balance for what John Hunter needs. We worked a lot on what [John Hunter] needs in the car and maybe help the balance as well.
We think the pace is going to be up quite a bit with the cooler temperatures – every track that we’ve gone to has just been faster.”
43 NOTES AND QUOTES:
EJ STATS: Jones has eight starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway where he has earned one top five and one top 10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series. His best result at the track was a third-place finish in 2019. Jones also has a third-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series which happened in 2015. In 2016, he competed for the Xfinity Series championship but finished ninth, falling just short of capturing the title.
TOP 5 STARTS: Last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jones qualified his Dollar Tree Toyota Camry in fifth place for the second consecutive top five starting spot. This marked Jones’ first back-to-back top five starting spot since 2019.
BESHORE AT HOMESTEAD: Crew chief Ben Beshore has two starts in the Cup Series, resulting in a 2021 tenth-place finish with driver Kyle Busch. Jones and Beshore competed at Homestead in 2024 together and finished 22nd. In the Xfinity Series, Beshore has a win at the South Florida track with driver Harrison Burton which came in 2020, along with two top five and four top ten finishes. Beshore and (John Hunter) Nemechek finished third on the track in 2023.
QUOTING ERIK JONES
“Homestead is really unique especially with it being more of a of a day race than what we used to have (started in day, finished at night). Handling is really important so it’s a good test for the car. At Homestead it’s tough to stay out of trouble all day and be up front battling at the end. It will be another good test for the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota team of a unique mile and a half – it doesn’t transfer to a lot of other tracks we go to, but it does showcase the handling ability of the car. It’s such a unique surface and line – we don’t race on many traditional oval layouts anymore.”
QUOTING BEN BESHORE
“Qualifying has been going really well for us the past two races. Erik has put some really good laps together, and we now have a better notebook of what he is looking for in practice trim verses race trim. All the engineers we have hired over the off season have really helped with that, on top of the shop and the No. 43 team putting together a good car. I think it’s a combination of everything coming together, everyone’s hard work and the detail-oriented stuff that gives you a couple thousandths here and there that take you from where we were averaging in the 20’s last year to now in the top 10. Hopefully we can keep that moving for Homestead. We finished the race strong there last year, so we have a bit of a notebook as to where that balance was and a couple of things we did to get there. Also, we have notes from Vegas that we can relate to Homestead, with the track being a high (tire) falloff – it chews the tires up a little more, so you must make different decisions to be there at the end.”
CLUB APPEARANCES
On Sunday, Nemechek will engage with the fans and participate in an autograph session at the NASCAR Classics merchandise hauler located in FanZone. Nemechek will begin signing at 11:45 a.m. ET. Following the autograph session, he will stop over to the NASCAR Experience stage and answer some questions at 12:15 p.m. ET.
HOW TO WATCH
The NASCAR Cup Series takes its talents to South Beach for this weekend’s racing action at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Practice and qualifying for the event will take place on Saturday, March 22 streaming on Prime Video at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Straight Talk Wireless 400 will take place on Sunday, March 23 airing on Fox Sports 1, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
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 and Knighthead Capital Management, LLC. 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.
