LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Brickyard 400
DATE: July 27, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 22 of 36
TRACK: Indianapolis Motor Speedway | 2.5-mile oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ KISSES THE BRICKS: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson knows what it’s like to kiss the yard of bricks at the Crown Jewel race of the Brickyard 400. Johnson has a total of 19 Cup Series starts at the 2.5-mile oval resulting in four victories, six top-fives, and seven top-10s with 306 laps led. He earned his first win at Indianapolis in August 2006 where he bested LEGACY MC competition advisor and runner-up Kenseth as the race ended under caution. He followed that up with back-to-back victories in July 2008 with a .332 of a second margin of victory over Carl Edwards and July 2009 with a .400 of a second margin of victory over Mark Martin. His final victory at Indianapolis came in July 2012 where he started sixth and bested runner-up Kyle Busch by 4.758 seconds after leading 99 laps.
JJ IN INDYCAR AT INDY: Johnson has not only experienced the iconic Brickyard in the NASCAR Cup Series, but also in the INDYCAR Series for the Indianapolis 500 which is raced on the same weekend as the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. He qualified on the fourth row for the May 2022 Indianapolis 500 where he ended up earning a 28th-place finish after contact on lap 193 ended his day early. Johnson did return to Indianapolis in 2024 and 2025 for their broadcast though. In 2024, he contributed to NBC’s pre-race and race coverage for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Earlier this year, he flew up to Indianapolis to participate in Tom Brady’s Fastest Seat in Sports – aka the G.O.A.T. RIDE – where Johnson and Brady led the field to green in a two-seat INDYCAR prior to Johnson flying back to Charlotte to race in the Coca-Cola 600 that evening.
KENSETH AT INDY: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth has a total of 20 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Indianapolis in his career. He earned a total of 10 top-fives and 13 top-10s while leading 77 laps. Besides his second-place finish to Johnson in August 2006, he earned the runner-up spot in three other Brickyard 400 races. In August 2003, Kenseth finished 2.758 seconds behind Kevin Harvick. He finished second again in the July 2016 race 2.126 seconds behind Kyle Busch. Finally in July 2020, he finished .743 of a second behind Harvick once again.
CROWN JEWEL NUMBER SHADOWING: LEGACY MC’s Number Shadowing program will be back this weekend at Indianapolis for the Crown Jewel race of the Brickyard 400. As part of the program that was announced prior to the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, the shadows of Richard Petty’s Parts Blue on the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE and Lee Petty’s red on the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE will be on the door for NASCAR’s select Crown Jewel races – which will include the Brickyard 400, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, and the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
ULTIMATE CANINE: After Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LEGACY MC drivers Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek will road trip up to the Ultimate Canine Training Facility in Westfield, IN to interact with a group of graduating K9 officers and partake in a friendly competition. Ultimate Canine is an award-winning training facility just an hour north of the track founded by Julie Case. She has been training dogs for over 27 years. Jones will bring his four-legged companion Oscar to the activity to run him through some training exercises alongside the graduating K9 officers.
DOLLAR TREE VENDOR SPOTLIGHT: Dollar Tree will serve as the primary partner on the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE, driven by Erik Jones, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The bold green and white Dollar Tree scheme will hit the track alongside support from vendor partner Jack Links, showcasing a strong collaboration for the race weekend across LEGACY MC’s social platforms.
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 SiriusXM 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 Carolina Hurricanes head coach and 2006 Stanley Cup Champion pick Rod Brind’Amour.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT INDY: John Hunter Nemechek has two starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series, one in 2020 where he finished 15th, and one in 2024 where he was running in the front half of the pack all day and led 16 laps before ultimately finishing 29th due to a late-race wreck. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he has also made two starts at the track in 2018 and 2019, where he finished 25th and 31st, respectively.
T-MACK INDIANAPOLIS STATS: Sunday’s race will be Crew Chief Travis Mack’s second NASCAR Cup Series race at the Brickyard. His first outing was in 2024 with AJ Allmendinger, who earned a 30th-place finish after a crash in the middle of Stage 2. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has two starts with Michael Annett, where he finished 31st in 2018 and 12th in 2019.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“We had a really good run going in Indy last year. Ended poorly, result-wise, but led some laps. We had a really fast car though, so I’m looking forward to going back there. We have a long practice session this weekend, so we get to try some things. This has been a race that has been circled on our calendar all year. Hopefully we have a shot to win. If we don’t have a shot to win, we want to make the best day out of it that we possibly can and have a solid result in our No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“I feel good about Indy. It’s going to come down to qualifying and pit strategy. John Hunter led laps here last year, and I feel like we’ve made lots of improvements since then. I look at this as one of our top races that we could clinch our way into the playoffs.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES INDIANAPOLIS STATS: Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will mark Jones’ sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at the iconic, 2.5-mile oval. In his five prior starts, Jones earned a best finish of second after starting 13th in the September 2018 race. He finished just .904 of a second behind race winner Brad Keselowski. He has an additional three starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis where he earned a best finish of 22nd in July 2016. In his three Xfinity Series starts though, he never qualified worse than third.
BESHORE AT INDY: Crew Chief Ben Beshore has not only been on top of the box for one NASCAR Cup Series race on the oval at Indianapolis, but also one NASCAR Xfinity Series race which resulted in him kissing the bricks. His one Cup Series start with John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 team in July 2024 resulted in a 29th-place result after starting 10th, when a wreck took the team out on lap 161 after an incredible day that saw Nemechek lead 16 laps. In the September 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Beshore started from the pole with Kyle Busch. The team led 46 laps on its way to a .132 of a second margin of victory over Justin Allgaier.
ZIGAZOO AT INDY: In addition to his activities with Ultimate Canine, Jones will welcome social media influencer Elyse Hofer to the racetrack as his guest for the weekend. Hofer is an Indiana-native model and social media influencer who is well known on Instagram, TikTok, and Zigazoo. With over 250K followers on Zigazoo alone, the young social media starlet is making her name known and racking up a following on all three platforms.
GOODNIGHT RACETRACK: In collaboration with the Newgardens, Jones will post a special #READwithErik on his channels where he reads “Goodnight Racetrack” by Andy Amendola and Ashley Newgarden. This is the latest installment of Jones’ program that he started in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He began reading children’s books live on social media for those kids who were stuck at home, and it has since transitioned into a pillar of the Erik Jones Foundation to promote literacy. Watch all of his #READwithErik episodes HERE.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Indy’s such a great track, and I’m so happy for it to be back on the oval. Last year getting back to it, we didn’t have much of a race, unfortunately. We had a mechanical issue from Lap 1 that kept us from getting much experience, but I feel like where we’re at this year and our strengths, Indy should be a really good track for the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota team. I’m excited to get there and see what the race is going to bring. This is a race win that is on everyone’s bucket list, including mine. I grew up just four hours away and raced there as a kid in quarter midgets in the parking lot. So, it’s always fun to go back there and just get a chance to race on the oval. I want to have a shot to win at the oval, so I’m looking forward to it. Hoping we can go there and execute well.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“Indianapolis is a track where you can pull a lot of similarities from Pocono. It’s sort of that bigger, 2-mile track with a lot of straightaway time. Qualifying is going to be important at Indy. It’s going to be tricky to pass during the race. If you find yourself off sequence, it’s hard. You’ll have guys who will go back-and-forth on strategies, but you kind of just have to pick a strategy and ride it out. You have to hope that cautions fall in your favor. I love Indy. It’s a really cool track with a lot of tradition. Just seeing those cars come down the front straightaway with grandstands on both sides, there’s nothing like it. The yard of bricks at the start-finish line is iconic. It’s just a really cool place and probably one of my favorite tracks on the schedule.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
Jones will visit the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 10:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, July 27.
Nemechek will visit the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 11:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 26.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27 at 2 p.m. ET on TNT, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
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.
