LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
PHOENIX RACEWAY PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: NASCAR Cup Series Championship
DATE: Nov. 2, 2025
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 36 of 36
TRACK: Phoenix Raceway | 1-Mile Oval
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ AT PHOENIX: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson owns 36 Cup Series starts at Phoenix Raceway. In total, he has collected four victories, 16 top-fives, and 22 top-10s at the one mile oval and has led 998 laps. Johnson scored three back-to-back wins at Phoenix. His first victory came in Nov. 2007 when he started sixth, led 55 laps, and finished .870 of second ahead of Greg Biffle. He followed that up in April 2008 where he started seventh and led 120 laps en route to besting Clint Bowyer by 7.002 seconds. The series returned in Nov. 2008 and saw Johnson as the victor once again. He started on the pole, led 217 of the 312 laps and finished .295 of a second ahead of Kurt Busch. Johnson scored his final win at Phoenix in Nov. 2009 after starting third, leading 238 of 312 laps, and beating Jeff Burton by 1.033 seconds. He owns four additional starts at Phoenix in the NASCAR then- Busch Series where he earned a best finish of 12th in March 2013.
KENSETH PHOENIX STATS: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB competition advisor and 2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth has 32 career Cup Series starts at Phoenix. He scored a total of two wins, seven top-fives, and 13 top-10s as well as 329 laps led. Kenseth scored his first win at Phoenix early in his career in Nov. 2002. It was his third start at Phoenix. He started 28th, led 55 laps, and bested Rusty Wallace by 1.344 seconds. His second victory came in his third to last race at Phoenix in Nov. 2017. Kenseth started seventh, led 62 laps and beat Chase Elliott by 1.207 seconds. He has an additional 15 starts at Phoenix in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he scored a total of one win, six top-fives, and 13 top-10s. From Nov. 2004 to his final Xfinity Series start in March 2015, Kenseth never finished outside the top-10 at Phoenix in the series. He won from the pole in Nov. 2006 after leading 125 of 200 laps and besting Kevin Harvick by .337 of a second.
THE KING AT PHOENIX: LEGACY MC ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty owns five NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix Raceway in his career between 1988 and 1992. He earned a best finish of 23rd in his Nov. 1990 start after starting 36th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 MOBIL 1 TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT PHOENIX: John Hunter Nemechek has six NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix, with his highest finish of 14th coming from the 2025 spring race. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Nemechek has eight starts, including one pole award in Nov. 2018, six top-10 finishes, and two top-fives. He earned a best finish of fourth in Nov. 2019. In his nine starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he earned six top-10 finishes, including three top-five finishes. His best finish of second was earned twice in Nov. 2015 and Nov. 2017.
T-MACK PHOENIX STATS: Sunday’s race at Phoenix will mark crew chief Travis Mack’s 10th NASCAR Cup Series start at the track. His first outing came in 2018 with Kasey Kahne. Mack returned to Phoenix with Daniel Suárez in the 2021 season. The duo competed in six races together through the end of 2023 and earned a highest finish of ninth in March 2022. In 2024, Mack competed with Derek Kraus in the March race. He then returned in March 2025 with Nemechek, where the duo finished 14th. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mack has five starts with Michael Annett, where the pair earned three top-10 finishes and a best finish of fourth in Nov. 2020.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Phoenix is one of my favorite racetracks. I’m excited to go back there with everything we’ve learned this season and really make an impact for one last race.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“The No. 42 team has made huge strides this year, and we want to cap off the season with a strong run at Phoenix. John Hunter and I have really clicked this year, and coming back to Phoenix gives us a chance to show how much we’ve grown to close out the 2025 season the right way.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE ZIPLOC TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES PHOENIX STATS: Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway will mark Erik Jones’ 19th Cup Series start at the mile oval in the desert. In his career, he’s collected one top-five, four top-10s, and led 25 laps at the track. He earned a best finish of fourth in Nov. 2017 after starting 11th. He has an additional 10 starts outside of the Cup Series at Phoenix – three in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and seven in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He won twice in the Truck Series in Nov. 2013 and Nov. 2014, but also never finished worse than ninth in all three starts. In the Xfinity Series, Jones also never finished outside the top-10 with five top-fives and seven top-10s. He earned a best finish of second after starting on the pole in March 2016, finishing just 2.285 seconds behind race winner Kyle Busch.
JONES’ FIRST NASCAR WIN: Jones captured his first career NASCAR Truck Series victory and his first win in NASCAR’s top-three series at Phoenix in Nov. 2013 when he was just 16 years old. The Michigan native was running a five-race schedule for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the 2013 season and never finished worse than ninth. Jones qualified second for the race at Phoenix and led 84 laps en route to a 1.616 second margin of victory over Ross Chastain. He defended that win the following season with another victory at the track while once again running part-time in Nov. 2014. Jones started from the pole and led 114 of the 150 laps to best Matt Crafton under caution. Across his three Truck Series starts at the track, he boasted an impressive average start of 1.3 and an average finish of 3.7.
BESHORE AT PHOENIX: Crew chief Ben Beshore has been on top of the box for six prior races at Phoenix Raceway with three different drivers – Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, and Jones. He earned a best finish of seventh twice at the 1-mile oval with Busch in Nov. 2021 and March 2022. Beshore has an additional six races at Phoenix in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Busch, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, and Nemechek. He won in March 2019 with Busch after the duo started third and led 116 of 200 laps to best Ryan Truex by 3.025 seconds.
ERIK JONES QUOTE
“I’m looking forward to Phoenix. It’s the last race of the year, so I’m hoping we can finish on a high note. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for us as we just got into some bad situations. Hopefully, we have another good racecar. I feel like Martinsville was a step up in our short track program as far as what we had for balance and pace. I think we can carry some things into this race that we learned there to have a solid day. I’m excited to get there and finish out the year strong.”
BEN BESHORE QUOTE
“We qualified really well at Phoenix in the Spring but just didn’t have quite what we needed in the race. Fortunately, it’s a full practice event this weekend so we’ll get to try a couple of different set up strategies and see if we can hit on something that can give Erik what he’s looking for in the race. We’re hoping to carry over that speed that we had in qualifying there and then set up the car for the race.”
CLUB APPEARANCES:
On Sunday, Nov. 2, Nemechek will be at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Experience in the Fan Zone for a Q&A session at 9:40 a.m. local time, followed by autograph signing at the NASCAR Classics Hauler at 10 a.m. local time.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the NASAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. EST on NBC, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: (LEGACY MC) is a premier auto racing organization 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.
