LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY PRE-RACE ADVANCE
RACE: Jack Link’s 500 | Race 10 of 36
DATE: April 27, 2025
TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala. | 2.66-mile Superspeedway
CLUB MINUTES
OFF WEEK: During the NASCAR Cup Series off week, the teams took some much-needed time to reset before a 28-week straight stretch of races. Erik Jones went home to Michigan and spent time with his family and friends. Teammate John Hunter Nemechek and his family stayed local and had some quality family time as well, which included celebrating his wife Taylor’s birthday.
NEVER SETTLE: Join ESPN’s Marty Smith and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s co-owner Jimmie Johnson for their weekly podcast, Never Settle. The podcast airs live on SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 at 2 p.m. ET every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts. This week’s guest is Nick Weaver, entrepreneur and co-founder of Blue Delta Jeans.
LEGACY WINS AT ‘DEGA: CLUB Ambassador Richard Petty, “The King” has two wins at Talladega Superspeedway – both coming in 1974. CLUB co-owner Johnson won two times at Talladega, and the most thrilling was a four-by-four wide finish in the 2011 Aaron’s 499. In a race that featured 88 lead changes, Johnson won on the last lap by .002 over Clint Bowyer while being pushed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This finish is still tied for the second-closest finish in NASCAR history.
DALE INMAN, HALL OF FAME: Infamous eight-time championship-winning crew chief Dale Inman, will be inducted into the 61st annual North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC. This year the Hall will induct University of North Carolina and Dallas Cowboy great Greg Ellis, athletic administrator Nora Lynn Finch, North Carolina State track and cross-country coach Rollie Geiger, legendary high school football coach David Gentry, NASCAR crew chief Inman, Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones, basketball star Wendy Palmer, college football legend Jimmy Raye and the founder of the Durham Bulls Miles Wolff. Posthumously, the Hall will induct NASCAR driver Bobby Isaac and Clemson University/ NFL great Chester McGlockton. The 2025 class will bring the total number of those enshrined in the Hall to 422.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 JACK LINK’S TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
WELCOME JACK LINK’S: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB recently announced that Jack Link’s®, the global leader in meat snacks and vendor partner of Dollar Tree will serve as the primary partner on John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 Jack Link’s Toyota Camry XSE for the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 27.
NEMECHEK AT DEGA: During his rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, John Hunter Nemechek showed a knack for the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway, scoring a pair of eighth-place finishes in both races. Nemechek has four NCS starts at the 2.66-mile superspeedway with an average finish of 20th. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nemechek has made four starts, qualifying inside the top 15 each time and earning two top 10 finishes. In the NASCAR Truck Series, he has seven starts, claimed one pole position, led 31 laps, and notched one top five and two top 10 finishes. During the 2024 Spring event at Talladega, Nemechek led 20 laps in his Toyota Camry XSE but got caught up in an accident, finishing 33rd. This season during the two speedway races, he kicked things off with a career-high fifth-place result in the DAYTONA 500 and followed that up with a 10th place finish in Atlanta.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY T-MACK: During the off week, the crew chief of the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entry, Travis Mack, celebrated his 42nd birthday. Happy Birthday, T-Mack!
T-MACK AT DEGA: Mack has made nine Cup Series starts as a crew chief, earning three top-10 finishes, including a best result of eighth place with Daniel Suárez in 2022. In the Xfinity Series, he has three starts as a crew chief, highlighted by a pole position with Michael Annett in 2019 while at JR Motorsports.
QUOTING JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK:
“I’m really looking forward to getting back on a superspeedway this weekend at Talladega. We’ve had a strong start to the season with back-to-back top-10 finishes, and we’ve got a pretty cool Jack Link’s scheme on the car. It’d be fitting to get my first Cup win in the Jack Link’s 500.”
QUOTING TRAVIS MACK:
“It’s important to LEGACY MC to unload in Talladega and outqualify our positions from the Daytona 500. Our cars performed well in the race, but we lacked some speed in qualifying. To improve means we improved our car’s speed in just a couple of months’ time. I am always excited about our chances of going to a superspeedway race with John Hunter. He is a smart SS racer and will definitely be in contention at the end of the race.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 TRISTATE VACUUM & RENTAL TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
WELCOME TRISTATE VACUUM & RENTAL: The No. 43 will dawn the red, grey, and white colors of TriState Vacuum & Rental, a subsidiary company of partner Massey Motor Freight.
JONES AT DEGA: Throughout his career, Jones has had 16 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, earning three top five and eight top 10 finishes. He’s been especially consistent recently, finishing in the top 10 in seven of his last 10 races while leading a total of 75 laps. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Jones has three starts at Talladega, never qualifying outside the top 10 and securing a top five finish in 2017, where he led five laps. In the Truck Series, the 2015 champion made two starts, boasting an average starting position of 4.5 and an average finish of 5.0, and has led seven laps and recorded one top five and one top 10 finish.
BESHORE AT DEGA: Ben Beshore has called the shots as crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway six times. Of those six starts in the top Series, he has one top five, which was a third place finish in 2022 with Kyle Busch behind the wheel at Joe Gibbs Racing. In addition, he has four NXS starts with a best finish of 26th to his record.
RIDE ALONG: This weekend, fans can go onboard the No. 43 TriState Vacuum & Rental Toyota Camry driven by Jones as he carries cameras sponsored by Toyota, giving the fan multiple viewpoints as the 28-year-old driver takes to the high banks of Talladega.
QUOTING ERIK JONES:
“I always look forward to getting to Talladega, for me it’s somewhere I have been really close to winning a handful of races, but I just haven’t been able to close the deal. I am looking forward to getting back there again, representing TriState Vacuum & Rental, hopefully running up front and having an opportunity to win. I felt like our Daytona week was really good and I feel like LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s speedway cars are good, and we have done some things to even improve since then. So, looking forward to just to seeing what our speed is like and having an opportunity to go there and run well with a shot to win.”
QUOTING BEN BESHORE:
“Qualifying isn’t a huge deal at Talladega — it’s really more about making sure the car drives well and races strong. If we have to give up a little in qualifying to gain that in the race, it’s worth it. We’re focused on drivability and the ability to move through the pack and change lanes in the big pack. We’ve been making some incremental changes to help improve our performance [at Talladega].”
CLUB APPEARANCES
NASCAR KIDS CLUB HANGOUT: On Saturday at 11:30 a.m. local time, Nemechek will visit the NASCAR Kids Club and have a question-and-answer session with NFL Star and NASCAR Growth & Engagement Advisor, Alvin Kamara.
TALLADEGA GARAGE EXPERIENCE: On race day morning at 10:15 a.m., Nemechek will stop by the Talladega Garage Experience Stage located in the infield for a Q&A session.
TUNE IN:
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action this week at Talladega Superspeedway with the Jack Link’s 500 on Sunday, April 27. The race broadcast will take place on FOX, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) at 3:00 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.
