LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: SOUTHERN 500 PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Cook Out Southern 500
DATE: August 31, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 27 of 36
TRACK: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway | 1.366-Mile Oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ – TWO-TIME SOUTHERN 500 CHAMP: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson has 24 Cup Series starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. In his career, Johnson is a two-time Southern 500 champion and a three-time winner at Darlington. He has earned nine top-fives and 13 top-10s at the track nicknamed “The Lady in Black” as well as led 563 laps. His first win at Darlington came in March 2005 when Johnson started 11th and led 69 laps en route to a .132 of a second margin of victory over Bobby Labonte. He followed that up in the November 2004 Southern 500 when he started fourth, led 124 laps, and bested Mark Martin by .959 of a second. His final win at Darlington came in the 2012 Southern 500 when he started second, led 134 laps, and beat Denny Hamlin by .781 of a second.
KENSETH WINS AT DARLINGTON: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth owns 28 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway. He earned one win, three top-fives, and 13 top-10s in these starts and led 193 laps. Kenseth is also a Southern 500 winner. A year after Johnson’s win in 2012, Kenseth started seventh and led 17 laps en route to a 3.155 seconds margins of victory over Denny Hamlin.
THE KING AT DARLINGTON: Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MC ambassador Richard Petty owns 65 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway and is also a Southern 500 champion. In total, he accumulated three wins, 25 top-fives, and 34 top-10s at Darlington. He also led 2,391 laps at the 1.366-mile oval. His first victory came in April 1966 where Petty started on the pole and led 281 of 291 laps to find victory lane. He found victory lane again in May 1967 when he started second behind David Pearson and led 266 laps to win his second race at the track. His final win came in the September 1967 Southern 500 where Petty once again started on the pole and led a total of 345 laps to best David Pearson once again.
HONORING LOCAL HEROES: This weekend at Darlington, LEGACY MC will pay tribute to fallen Darlington County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Devin Mason with a commemorative decal on both the No. 42 and No. 43 Toyota Camry XSEs. Additionally, Deputy Mason will ride along with John Hunter Nemechek as his name is displayed above the driver-side door on the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE.
On June 30, Nemechek visited the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office to meet with first responders and gain insight into their service to the community. The following evening on July 1, Deputy Mason was killed in the line of duty while responding to a call in Darlington. His sacrifice serves as a reminder of the daily risks law enforcement officers face to keep their communities safe.
CROWN JEWEL NUMBER SHADOWING: LEGACY MC’s Number Shadowing program will be back this weekend for the Crown Jewel race of the Southern 500. 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 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 Crown Jewel races – which include the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 500, Brickyard 400, the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, and the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
NEVER SETTLE NOW ON YOUTUBE: 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. EDT every Wednesday and can be downloaded wherever fans source their podcasts.
This week’s guest is Greg Olsen, former NFL Carolina Panthers tight end and sportscaster for FOX Sports. NEW Fans can now tune into Never Settle on YouTube and watch the behind the scenes as well as full episodes. Click HERE to watch and subscribe.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN TAKES ON ‘THE LADY IN BLACK’: John Hunter Nemechek has six starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series. He earned his highest finish of ninth in his first start there in the first race of the May 2020 doubleheader. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he has six starts at Darlington, earning three top-5 finishes and two poles, earned in May 2023 and September 2023. He also earned his highest finish of third in the May 2023 race. Nemechek also has three starts at Darlington in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he won in May 2022, earned two poles in May 2021 and 2022, and never finished worse than eighth, including two top-two finishes.
TRUCK SERIES WINNER AT DARLINGTON: In May 2022, Nemechek took home the checkered flag in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race after starting on the pole. He led 69 out of 147 laps and won with a .552 margin of victory over Carson Hocevar. Nemechek was running a full time season in the Truck Series in 2022, and Darlington marked his first of two wins that season.
T-MACK DARLINGTON STATS: Sunday evening’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 10th NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington. His first outing at the 1.366-mile oval came in May 2021 with Daniel Suárez, and the duo competed for six total races between 2021 and 2023. Mack’s highest finish of tenth came with Suárez in May 2022. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack made four starts at Darlington with Michael Annett between 2018 and 2020, earning two top-10 finishes and a best result of eighth in September 2020.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Darlington has been a strong track for me in other series, so I’m excited to get back there and see what we can do based on what we’ve learned so far this season. We’ve had really fast LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyotas recently, so I’m feeling confident that we’ll be able to capitalize on that speed and have a strong weekend.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“I’m happy we get a second run at an intermediate track. We feel like we’ve made big improvements since the spring race at Darlington. We’ve been reviewing our notes and noticed upwards trends, and we can build off Indy and the cars we’ve been bringing to the racetrack. We feel good about Darlington.”
PHOTO CREDIT: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
THAT JONES BOY AT DARLINGTON: Sunday evening’s Cook Out Southern 500 will mark Erik Jones’ 16th NASCAR Cup Series start at historic Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Jones made a name for himself at the 1.366-mile oval where he owns two Southern 500 victories, five top-fives, and eight top-10s. He has led 132 laps in his career at Darlington. He an additional two starts at Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he never started worse than 11th and never finished outside the top-six. In his first start there in September 2016, Jones started 10th and finished an impressive sixth. He followed that up in September 2017 when he started 11th and earned a fourth-place result.
TWO-TIME SOUTHERN 500 WINNER: Jones is not only a winner at Darlington, but a two-time Southern 500 winner. The crown jewel race has been kind to the Byron, Michigan native in his career. His first Southern 500 victory came in September 2019. Jones started 15th and led 79 laps en route to a 4.058 second victory over Kyle Larson. After a couple of top 10s, Jones found victory lane at Darlington once again in the September 2022 Southern 500. He once again started 15th and led a total of 23 laps to find victory lane with a .252 of a second margin of victory over Denny Hamlin.
BESHORE DARLINGTON STATS: Crew chief Ben Beshore has seven NASCAR Cup Series under his belt at Darlington Raceway. He made his first start in May 2012 with Kyle Busch who started third and finished in the same position, his best Cup Series finish at the track. He worked another three races with Busch before moving over to John Hunter Nemechek in the 2024 season. The duo finished 31st and 25th, respectively. He then moved over to Jones with several races to go in the 2024 season. He finished 17th earlier this year at Darlington with the No. 43 team. He has an additional five races on top of the box in Darlington in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, and Nemechek. He earned a best finish of third after starting on the pole with Nemechek in September 2023. In the Xfinity Series, he only finished outside of the top 10 once with his drivers and led 183 laps.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“I’ve always been comfortable at Darlington. It’s a place where I’ve done well and had a lot of speed. It reminds me of a lot of the tracks I grew up racing on. I’ve been lucky to be able to not only win two Southern 500s, but also just have really strong runs at this track. There are some places that you just get that feeling and Darlington is one of them for me. I know the No. 43 team will bring me a strong car, and I’m excited to get to Darlington and see what we can do.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“There are a few keys to being successful at Darlington. It’s an asymmetrical track with a big, wide radius in Turn 1 versus a tighter radius in Turn 3. You’re sort of trying to balance both ends as well as you can. Typically, you’re a little free across Turns 1 and 2 with some bumps off of Turn 2. Then you’re tight when you’re trying to run the wall in Turns 3 and 4. We want to put a good setup underneath him that is a good compromise for both ends of the racetrack. It’s going to come down to qualifying well and having good pit stops. You’re probably going to have a lot of green flag runs and pitting under green. You have to execute all the tiny details and not have the mistakes. Then, you can chip forward as other guys do make mistakes or have tire issues. It’s a long race though, so you can also have time to get back in it. You can get off strategy and catch a caution at a different spot. I’m excited to get to Darlington.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
Jones will be at the NASCAR Experience Stage for a Q&A session on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 2:45 p.m. local time.
Nemechek will be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, Aug. 31.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Sunday, August 31 at 6 p.m. EDT on USA, 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.
