LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Bass Pro Shops Night Race
DATE: Sept. 13, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 29 of 36
TRACK: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway | .533-Mile, Concrete Oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ AT BRISTOL: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB co-owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson owns 38 starts in the Cup Series at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He collected two wins, 13 top-fives, and 22 top-10s over his career as well as led 914 laps. He scored his first win at Bristol in March 2010 when he started fourth in the Food City 500. Johnson led a total of 84 laps to finish .894 of a second ahead of Tony Stewart. He won his second race at Bristol in April 2017. He started 11th for the 500-lap race and led 81 laps en route to a 1.199 second margin of victory of Clint Bowyer. Johnson has an additional five starts outside of the Cup Series – four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He earned a best finish of fourth in his March 2001 Xfinity Series start at Bristol. In his lone career Truck Series start, Johnson started ninth in August 2008 and led 29 laps prior to being involved in a wreck on Lap 101 that ended his Truck Series debut early.
KENSETH BRISTOL STATS: LEGACY MC competition advisor Matt Kenseth also owns 38 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol. He accumulated a total of four victories, 15 top-fives, and 22 top-10s as well as 1,583 laps led. Kenseth scored his first victory at Bristol in the August 2005 Bristol Night Race. He started from the pole and led 415 of 500 laps to finish .511 of a second ahead of Jeff Burton. He followed that up in the August 2005 night race where he started fourth and found himself in victory lane once again after leading 117 laps. He finished .591 of a second ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch. In the August 2013 night race, Kenseth started fifth and led 149 laps to finish .188 of a second ahead of runner-up Kasey Kahne. His fourth and final victory came in the April 2015 Food City 500 where he once again started on the pole. Kenseth led 47 laps en route to a .287 of a second margin of victory over Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has an additional 18 starts at Bristol in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He owns three victories (August 1999, March 2001, and August 2006), 11 top-fives, and 11 top-10s as well as 504 laps led.
THE KING AT BRISTOL: LEGACY MC ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty owns 60 total starts in the Cup Series at Bristol dating back to July 1961. During his legendary career, Petty earned three wins, 26 top-fives, and 37 top-10s at Bristol in addition to leading 2,212 laps. He earned his first victory from the pole in July 1967 where he led 225 laps en route to his win. He won again in March 1975 when he started second, led 243 laps, and bested Benny Parsons. His final win came in November 1975 where Petty started fourth and led 218 laps to find victory lane.
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. 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 AT BRISTOL: John Hunter Nemechek has five starts at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series – all coming on the concrete .533-mile oval. He earned a highest finish of sixth in March 2024. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he made four starts at Bristol, earning two top-three finishes in his last two races at the track in August 2019 and September 2023. He earned a best finish of third, earned twice in August 2019 and September 2023. Nemechek also has ten starts at Bristol in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he has earned five top-three finishes and a pole in the dirt race in March 2021.
T-MACK BRISTOL STATS: Saturday’s race under the lights will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 11th NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol. He has seven starts on the iconic concrete oval and another three on the dirt track at Bristol between 2021-2023). His first outing came in April 2018 with Kasey Kahne. He returned in March 2021 on the dirt track with Daniel Suárez, where the duo captured Mack’s highest finish of fourth. He stayed with Suarez through the dirt and concrete at Bristol through 2023 before switch to A.J. Allmendinger in 2023. His best finish on the concrete is a 19th-place result in September 2022 with Suarez. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has five starts at Bristol with Michael Annett, where the pair earned three top-10 finishes in August 2018 and both races in 2019. Their best finish was an seventh-place result earned in their first outing in August 2018.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I felt good at Bristol in the spring. I honestly thought we had a really solid race car. I’m looking forward to going back there with the changes that we’ve made and the things that we’ve found in our race car to hopefully go faster than we did in the spring.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“Bristol is going to be a big one for us. A lot of eyes are going to be on the racetrack for the new tire during the first practice session, and we’ll be ready to adjust for whatever we need. We’re ready to be contenders on Saturday night under the lights.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES BRISTOL STATS: Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race will mark Erik Jones’ 15th NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on the concrete oval. In his prior 14 starts, he earned four top-fives, five top-10s, and led 293 laps at the .533-mile oval. He earned a best finish of second from the pole in August 2017 during his rookie season. He led 260 of the 500 laps and finished 1.422 seconds behind race winner Kyle Busch. Jones has an additional three starts on the dirt at Bristol where he has a best finish of ninth in the inaugural direst race in March 2021. He has an additional seven starts outside of the Cup Series at Bristol – six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Jones has an impressive career at Bristol in the Xfinity Series – earning three pole positions (April 2015, April 2016, and August 2016), two wins (April 2016 and April 2017), three top-fives, and four top-10s. In his lone Truck Series start in August 2015, Jones started fourth and finished sixth at Bristol.
XFINITY SERIES WINNER AT BRISTOL: Jones was a competitor each and every time he rolled into the racetrack at Bristol in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Besides his three back-to-back poles, Jones owns two victories at the .533-mile, concrete oval. The Michigan native found himself in victory lane for the first time in April 2016 during his only fulltime Xfinity Series campaign. He started on the pole, led 62 laps, and bested Kyle Busch by .418 of a second to find his first of four victories during the 2016 season.
In a 2017 season that saw Jones make 18 Xfinity Series starts, Jones defended his Bristol success. He started fourth for the 300-lap event and led a total of 27 laps – taking the lead for the final time on Lap 280 to best Ryan Blaney by .344 of a second. It was the second of three victories he would claim that season in his limited schedule.
BESHORE AT BRISTOL: Crew chief Ben Beshore has five NASCAR Cup Series starts on top of the pit box at Bristol on the concrete oval. He’s made starts with Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemchek, and Jones. Beshore earned a best finish of sixth at Bristol in the Cup Series with Nemechek in March 2024. Beshore also has two starts at Bristol on the dirt with Busch, where he won in April 2022 after starting 11th. He has an additional five races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Harrison Burton, Busch, and Nemechek. In these five starts, Beshore only finished outside the top-10 once. His best finish of third came in September 2023 with Nemechek after starting third.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“We’ve improved on our short track program over the year as an organization. I think we’ll be decent at Bristol seeing the speed we had at St. Louis last weekend. We continue to improve everywhere, and Bristol has always been a decent track for me. Got some wins in Xfinity, as well as strong finishes in Truck and Cup. Trouble can find you fast a Bristol, so you have to be ready for anything. I’m confident in this No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota team though. Can’t wait to get up there.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“It’s honestly hard to know this time around at Bristol. Heading into the weekend, there’s a new tire that’s supposed to be more of a higher fall of tire, so there’s a bit of a question mark there. We’ll just have to get into practice on Friday to see what we’ve got there. It may end up being more of a tire management type of race – not going too high early and trying to stick in the rubber. You might have to baby the tires for 10 to 15 laps and then go hard the rest of the way. Most of the time, a good car at Bristol is good on the bottom and the top. The top tends to come in halfway through the race and it’ll be the dominate line, but you still have to be able to work the bottom to get through traffic. So, you want to be able to work both grooves. You don’t want your car to be better in one versus the other. That’s how you have a good car at Bristol. It helps you navigate your way through the race and restarts.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
Nemechek will be at the NASCAR Classics trackside merchandise rig to sign for fans at 3:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, Sept. 13.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA, MAX, PRN, 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.
