LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Coke Zero Sugar 400
DATE: August 23, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 26 of 36
TRACK: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway | 2.5-Mile Oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ AT DAYTONA: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson has 41 Cup Series starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. In these starts, Johnson has collected a total of three wins, 13 top-fives, and 17 top-10s as well as 302 laps led at the 2.5-mile oval. His first victory came in the February 2006 Daytona 500 where Johnson started ninth and led 24 laps after starting ninth. He won under caution where he was ahead of Casey Mears. 2013 proved to be a year of success for Johnson at Daytona. In February’s Daytona 500, Johnson started ninth once again and found himself crossing the finish line .129 of a second ahead of runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his second win at Daytona. When the series returned in July, Johnson started eighth and finished .107 of a second ahead of Tony Stewart to win his third race at the superspeedway.
KENSETH DAYTONA STATS: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth owns 37 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona. He found victory lane twice in his career and earned six top-fives and 14 top-10s. In total, he’s led 383 laps at Daytona. Kenseth’s first win at Daytona came in the February 2009 Daytona 500 where he started 39th and only led seven laps to claim the victory under caution ahead of Kevin Harvick. He earned himself another Daytona 500 victory in February 2012 when he started fourth and bested Dale Earnhardt Jr. by .210 of a second.
THE KING REIGNS AT DAYTONA: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MC ambassador Richard Petty owns 74 Cup Series starts at Daytona. During his career, he amounted a total of 10 wins, 28 top-fives, and37 top-10s at Daytona. In total, he led 1,278 laps at the 2.5-mile oval. His first victory came in the February 1964 Daytona 500 after starting second. His final win came in the July 1985 Firecracker 400 where he won under caution after starting 13th and leading 53 laps.
YOUNGEST DAYTONA 500 WINNER: LEGACY MC ambassador Trevor Bayne is also a winner at Daytona. He found himself in victory lane at the end of the February 2011 Daytona 500 after starting 32nd in his first career start at the 2.5-mile oval. He led six laps and found himself crossing the finish line .118 of a second ahead of Carl Edwards. Bayne became the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 at the age of 20 years and one day – an achievement that still stands to this day.
HONORING CANCER HEROS: This weekend at Daytona, LEGACY MC will join a majority of the field in honoring a cancer hero nominated by a race fan who won the auction bidding for the NASCAR Foundation and Martin Truex Jr. Foundation. The “Honor a Cancer Hero” program has been around since 2020 and has allowed industry members, fans, and sponsors alike to bid for their chance to put a cancer hero’s name above the driver side and passenger side doors. In total, the auction has raised more then $500,000 in total since 2020.
This year, John Hunter Nemechek will honor two heroes on his car. On the driver side will be Tom Goddard, a cancer hero and father. He will also carry seven-year-old Noelle Franklin, who fought Osteosarcoma, on the passenger side. After a valiant year-long battle against the disease, Noelle passed away on May 12, 2025. She participated in the 2024 Martin Truex Jr Foundation’s Catwalk for a Cause at which Nemechek was in attendance.
Erik Jones will honor Corinne Graczewski on his car this weekend. A patient of AdventHealth in Daytona Beach, Corinne faced three distinct caner diagnoses at once. After going into remission, she was diagnosed with kidney cancer once again earlier this year. After undergoing treatment, she has now gone through focused radiation treatment and is moving forward with immunotherapy. She is not only a survivor but a symbol of hope for the community.
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 Andy Roddick, former professional tennis player and International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT DAYTONA: John Hunter Nemechek has five starts at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series. He earned his highest finish of fifth in this year’s Daytona 500. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he accumulated six starts at the track during his career, earning three top-10 finishes and a best finish of second in February 2023. Nemechek also has five starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with a highest finish of fourth in February 2017.
T-MACK DAYTONA STATS: Saturday’s race under the lights will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 11th NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona. His first outing came in February 2018 with Kasey Kahne. After a short gap, Mack was back at Daytona in February 2021 with Daniel Suárez, where the duo competed for six total races between 2021 and 2023, with their highest finish being seventh. He returned in the February 2024 Daytona 500 with AJ Allmendinger, where the pair finished sixth. Mack followed that up in August 2024 with Shane Van Gisbergen, who finished 35th. His highest finish came with Nemechek in February of this year when the duo finished fifth after starting 18th. In the NASCAR Xfinity series, Mack has four starts at Daytona with Michael Annett, where the duo took home the race win in their first start together in February 2019 after starting third.
PYE-BARKER GOES “ALL IN”: On the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE at Daytona this weekend, Pye-Barker Fire & Safety will reveal a new scheme, emblazoned with the seal “Powered by Employee Ownership.” This all-new paint scheme celebrates this week’s announcement that Pye-Barker has launched its Achieving Lasting Legacy Incentive “ALL In” ownership program, making it the largest company in the fire and life safety industry to be powered by employee ownership.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I’m excited to get back down to Daytona; it’s one last shot to win our way into the playoffs. There’s definitely a lot of confidence for me going into this weekend after our fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500 earlier this year. Our LEGACY MOTOR CLUB superspeedway package has shown success, so I’m feeling ready for Saturday under the lights.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“We’re ready to get to Daytona. John Hunter (Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Toyota) is a smart superspeedway racer, and we’ve put a lot of effort into our superspeedway package. We were really fast there in February, so I’m excited to see what we can do Saturday night to lock in our playoff spot.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES DAYTONA STATS: Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 will mark Erik Jones’ 18th NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. In his 17 previous starts, Jones has won once, earned two top-fives and four top-10s, and led 61 total laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. In a track that is known for its unpredictability, Jones has been one of the ones to watch as he consistently runs up front at Daytona despite being caught up in some wrecks along the way. He also owns one win in the NASCAR Clash at Daytona from February 2020, where he survived a wreck that caused damage to his car to cross the finish line in the pre-season event. Jones has an additional seven starts outside of the Cup Series – six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He earned two top-10s in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of eighth in July 2015 after starting fifth. In his lone Truck Series start, Jones started seventh and earned an impressive second-place result just .173 of a second behind race winner Tyler Reddick.
FIRST CUP SERIES VICTORY: In July 2018, a 22-year-old Jones rolled into Daytona in his second fulltime season in the NASCAR Cup Series. He had just moved over to the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing after a very successful 2016 Xfinity Series campaign for the team. He qualified 29th but showed that it not only doesn’t matter where you start at Daytona, but also it doesn’t matter how many laps you lead as long as you’re leading the last one. He worked his way up to be in contention on the final lap and beat Martin Truex Jr. to the line by .125 of a second. The only lap he led all race was the final on Lap 160. This marked Jones’ first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and clinched his spot in the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs field.
BESHORE AT DAYTONA: Crew chief Ben Beshore has been on top of the box for seven NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona. He’s led a total of 40 laps with his drivers and earned three top-10 finishes. He only has one finish outside of the top-15 at Daytona with these drivers as well. Kyle Busch earned him his best finish of sixth in February 2022. Beshore has an additional six races under his belt in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Jeffrey Earnhardt, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, and John Hunter Nemechek. He earned a best finish of second twice – in February 2020 with Burton and again in February 2023 with Nemechek. His driver finished in the top-20 for five of those six starts.
#READWITHERIK IN DAYTONA: On Friday morning, Jones will spread his joy of reading to the local Daytona community with the help of AdventHealth. Prior to heading to the track for qualifying, Jones will visit the students at Rymfire Elementary School in Palm Coast, FL. Not only will he read “Goodnight Racetrack” by Andy Amendola and Ashley Newgarden, but he will also assist AdventHealth in donating a book vending machine to the school for the children. Jones previously donated a book vending machine to Chisholm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, FL in February.
EJ LATE MODEL RACING: Jones will finish up a busy month of Late Model Racing in Wednesday night’s ASA Stars National Tour Race at Owosso Speedway in Michigan. In his first race at Wisconsin International Raceway on August 5, Jones finished 14th after battling handling issues and an air box issue early on in the day. Then in last Wednesday’s battle at Berlin Raceway, Jones faced an issue early on in the race that forced him to retire early and finish 30th. He’ll try to rebound this weekend in his final late model race of the month in the Michigan 300 at a track located less than 30 miles from his hometown of Byron, MI.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“Daytona’s a wild card. No one can really predict what’s going to happen there, but I’ve also had some good luck there. If luck is on your side, you’ll have a fast car in the draft, avoid chaos, and find yourself in a position to make a move at the end of the race. Sometimes you don’t have luck on your side though. The team has to be quick in their strategy change and thinking because anything can happen. Hopefully, we can do everything right and have a little luck on our side to find ourselves up front on the last lap.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“We’re really looking forward to Daytona. I think the No. 43 team ran really well in the Daytona 500. We’ll take a similar package there and try to learn off the stuff we picked up on at Talladega also. It’s all on the line. We’re going to try to give him the best bullet that we can with one last shot going into the playoffs. Hopefully, we’ll come home with a checkered flag there.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
On Saturday, Aug. 23, Nemechek will be at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Experience for a Q&A session at 3:10 p.m. local time, before then heading to the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 3:30 p.m. local time.
Jones will be at the AdventHealth fan zone stage for a Q&A session on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. local time.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Saturday, August 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, 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.
