LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
ATLANTA PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Atlanta 400
DATE: July 12, 2026
Race: NASCAR Cup Series 20 of 36
TRACK: Atlanta Motor Speedway | 1.54-Mile Oval
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT ATLANTA: John Hunter Nemechek has six NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta, with his highest finish at the track of 10th coming in February 2025. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Nemechek has made five starts where he earned two top-fives and three top-10s with a victory in July 2023. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he has six starts, where he found victory lane in February 2016 and scored two third-place finishes in March 2021 and March 2023.
DOMINANT IN ATL: John Hunter Nemechek has found success at Atlanta Motor Speedway across multiple NASCAR national series. He took home the checkered flag in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in July 2023, leading three laps en route to a 0.245 second margin of victory over Daniel Hemric. Nemechek also visited victory lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta in February 2016, leading eight laps before besting Cameron Hayley by 0.305 seconds.
T-MACK AT ATLANTA: Sunday’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 12th NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta. His best finish of second came in July 2023 when his driver Daniel Suarez finished just behind William Byron under caution. He has an additional three top-10s in the Cup Series at Atlanta with his most recent being a 10th-place finish in February 2025 with Nemechek. He has an additional two starts as crew chief at Atlanta in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with Michael Annett, finishing 12th and 11th respectively in February 2019 and June 2020.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“This is one that I feel like we’ve had circled on our calendars. It’s a mile-and-a-half that races like a superspeedway. Can you ask for anything else? I’m really excited to get on track this weekend and see what we can do in our No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE:
“Atlanta is going to be good. John Hunter has had success there in the past, and we’ve shown speed at this style of track. If we can execute and avoid mistakes, I feel like we’ll be up front and have a really solid day. ”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES AT ATLANTA: Sunday’s race at Atlanta marks Erik Jones’ 16th NASCAR Cup Series race at the 1.54-mile track where he owns two top-fives and four top-10s. His best finish of fourth came in July 2022 after the track’s reconfiguration. In the series’ visit to the track last June, Jones earned an impressive fifth-place result after starting 26th. He owns three additional starts at Atlanta outside of the NASCAR Cup Series – two in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His best O’Reilly Auto Parts Series finish of third came in February 2016 after starting second. In his one and only Truck Series start in February 2015, he ended up with a seventh-place finish after starting second and leading 37 laps.
ALEXANDER AT ATLANTA: Crew chief Justin Alexander owns 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta in his successful career. On the newly reconfigured 1.54-mile track, he has been on top of the box for three Cup Series races – both 2022 races and September 2024. He earned a best finish of sixth at Atlanta in March 2021 with Austin Dillon after the duo started 13th. Alexander has one start at Atlanta in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series from February 2017 with Austin Dillon where the duo finished eighth.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“I’m excited for Atlanta. Another oval where we’ve run well at in the past. Obviously, it’s kind of become a wild card race where it’s not exactly a superspeedway, but also not an intermediate. It’ll be interesting to see how the track is aging and how these cars will run there this time around. We’re back in the Chase after Chicagoland and with this next stretch of races, the goal is to protect that spot and continue to move up with some strong runs. This could be another shot for us to win, for sure, but it’s also just a great opportunity to have a strong run. We’ll hopefully be there when it matters at the end.”
JUSTIN ALEXANDER QUOTE:
“Atlanta in the summer is always an entertaining race. It will be a hot, slick track and although we will pack racing like Daytona, car handling will be super important. The car setups we took to this track in February won’t work in July. Erik has had some good runs there, and we plan to continue that this weekend. We have moved our way up into Chase contention in the points, and this weekend we will be trying to maximize our points and continue to build a gap to the cutoff line. Our plan is to go execute all night and put ourselves in position at the end to win.”
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ WINS AT ATLANTA: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson owns 29 career Cup Series starts on the old configuration of the track during his career from 2001 to 2020. He was successful in finding victory lane five times at Atlanta (October 2004, March 2007, October 2007, March 2015, and February 2016). He led 586 laps in his career and earned 14 top-fives and 17 top-10s.
KENSETH AT ATLANTA: 2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB competition advisor Matt Kenseth also has a solid record at Atlanta on the old configuration. In 30 Cup Series starts, he earned 11 top-fives, 17 top-10s and led 363 laps. His best finish of second came in August 2014 when he finished just .574 seconds behind race winner Kasey Kahne.
“THE KING” VICTORIOUS AT ATLANTA: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty is a six-time winner at Atlanta in his career. In 65 total Cup Series starts, Petty has scored 22 top-fives, 33 top-10s, and led 1,827 laps at the old 1.5-mile oval. His victories at the track came in August 1966, August 1970, August 1971, July 1974, March 1975, and March 1977.
THE KING’S FINAL LAP: On Nov. 15, 1992, Richard Petty famously completed his final NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It marked the end of his career and the beginning of Jeff Gordon’s who made his Cup Series debut in the same race. The race drew a record 160,000 spectators to celebrate Petty’s historic career in the sport.
SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT:
CLUB APPEARANCES:
Nemechek will visit the Dollar Tree display in the fan zone on Saturday, July 11 at 2 p.m. local time, followed by a trip to the trackside merchandise hauler at 2:30 p.m. local time for an autograph session.
Erik Jones will make a pit stop at the Dollar Tree display in the fan zone on Sunday, July 12 at 2:45 p.m. local time to sign autographs for fans.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Atlanta 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 12 at 7 p.m. EDT on TNT Sports, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
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 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.
