LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
BRISTOL PRE-RACE ADVANCE
EVENT: Food City 500
DATE: April 12, 2026
RACE: NASCAR Cup Series 8 of 36
TRACK: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway | .533-Mile, Concrete Oval
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JHN AT BRISTOL: John Hunter Nemechek has six starts at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series. He earned a highest finish of sixth in March 2024. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts 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 Bristol dirt race in March 2021.
T-MACK BRISTOL STATS: Sunday afternoon’s race will be crew chief Travis Mack’s 12th NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol. He has eight 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 switching to A.J. Allmendinger. His best finish on the concrete oval is a 14th-place result in September 2025 with Nemechek. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts 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 a seventh-place result earned in their first outing in August 2018.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“I’m really looking forward to Bristol. I really enjoy going there and I feel like it suits my driving style. I’ve had success there previously, and we’ve brought solid Toyota Camrys to the racetrack in the past. Qualifying will be a challenge for us, but we’ve found speed there before. and I’m confident we’ll do it again.”
TRAVIS MACK QUOTE: “Bristol is one of John Hunter’s better tracks stats-wise. We’re ready to bounce back after our past few weeks and redeem ourselves. We’re going to be in a bit of a hole going out so early for qualifying, because historically the first ten cars there face some challenges. We’ll do the best we can, and we’re looking at ways to maximize our qualifying effort and race up front. Track position is essential at Bristol, and it will be key as we look to go into Kansas with a better starting spot. It’s time for us to turn things around, and the off week was a good chance for us to reset and come back stronger.”
ERIK JONES
NO. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
JONES BRISTOL STATS: Sunday’s Food City 500 will mark Erik Jones’ 16th NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway on the concrete oval. In his prior 15 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 dirt race in March 2021. He has an additional seven starts outside of the Cup Series at Bristol – six in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Jones has an impressive career at Bristol in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 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 at Bristol in August 2015, Jones started fourth and finished sixth.
WINNER AT BRISTOL: Early in his career, Jones was a contender to win each time he rolled into Bristol in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Besides his three back-to-back poles between April 2015 and August 2016, Jones owns two victories at the .533-mile, concrete oval. He found himself in victory lane for the first time in April 2016 during his only full-time season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. He started on the pole, led 62 laps, and beat runner-up Kyle Busch by .418 seconds to find his first of four victories during the 2016 season. He followed that up in April 2017 while he was running his rookie season in the NASAR Cup Series. Jones returned to the series and started fourth in the race at Bristol. He led 27 laps en route to his .344 second win over runner-up Ryan Blaney.
ALEXANDER AT BRISTOL: The Food City 500 will mark crew chief Justin Alexander’s 14th NASCAR Cup Series race on top of the box at the .533-mile, concrete oval of Bristol Motor Speedway. In his 13 prior races, he earned a best finish of sixth in May 2020 with Austin Dillon. Alexander owns another two starts at Bristol in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, where his team never finished worse than 13th and never started worse than fifth. Alexander won at Bristol in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with Austin Dillon in August 2016 after the duo started fifth and led four laps to best Justin Allgaier by .277 seconds.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“Bristol should be a good race. It’s honestly been a somewhat challenging track for me in the NextGen car. I don’t feel like we’ve really hit on it yet so we can have something that’s really good for us. It’s just kind of been a wild card with the tire situation – some races have high tire fall off and shred tires after 50 laps and some races it doesn’t seem like that’s an issue. There are some things you can do to help conserve tires, but it takes away from performance. So, you have to a lot of variables and unknowns going into Bristol, but it’s always a fun track and a really cool one to drive in general. We’ll get there and see what we’ve got.”
JUSTIN ALEXANDER QUOTE:
“There aren’t many similarities between Martinsville and Bristol, other than track length. Both are short tracks but completely different when setting up the cars. This weekend will be the first time with the high horsepower/low downforce package at Bristol, so that will be our biggest challenge going into the weekend. We’ll have to change setups slightly to compensate for the different package. Another challenge we sometimes face at Bristol is high tire wear and falloff. We’re unsure exactly what we’ll see so we have to prepared for anything. Bristol is always an exciting, fast paced race and no matter what kind of race unfolds, it will be fun to watch.”
CLUB MINUTES:
JJ AT BRISTOL: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB owner and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson owns 38 starts in the Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway. He collected two wins, 13 top-fives, and 22 top-10s over his career as well as having 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 seconds 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 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He earned a best finish of fourth in his March 2001 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series start. 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 MOTOR CLUB competition advisor and 2003 NASCAR Cup Series Champion 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 in the August 2005 Bristol Night Race. He started from the pole and led 415 of 500 laps to finish .511 seconds 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 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch. In the August 2013 night race, Kenseth started fifth and led 149 laps to finish .188 seconds 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 second margin of victory over Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has an additional 18 starts at Bristol in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts 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 MOTOR CLUB ambassador and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty owns 60 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. 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.
SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT:
Take a full walkthrough of the 2027 Newmar Essex used by Legacy Motor Club during the NASCAR season!
CLUB APPEARANCES:
John Hunter Nemechek will make an appearance at the Food City Stage in the fan zone on Saturday, April 11 at 2:45 p.m. local time. He will be at the trackside merchandise trailer at 12:00 p.m. local time to sign autographs on Sunday, April 12.
TUNE IN:
Fans can tune in to watch the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 12 at 3 p.m. EDT on FS1, 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.
