Jimmie Johnson’s tenure as a team owner has not gotten off to the brightest of starts. After joining Petty GMS as part-owner in 2022 following his retirement, he rebranded the team to Legacy Motor Club in 2023. In his three years so far, only one driver has managed to pick up a win. This prompted Johnson to change OEMs from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2024, however, it was met with little to no success.

Meanwhile, LMC has been employing a star in their ranks but has not been getting the most out of him. The youngest-ever Truck Series champion and two-time Southern 500 winner has only managed five top-5 finishes over the last three years. Fans seem to feel he is starting to get underrated, while some have gone so far as to say he is wasting his career at LMC. Who do you think this driver is?

From a hot start in NASCAR to a sudden cool-off

NASCAR recently asked fans about the driver who they feel is most underrated. While some fans chimed in on Christoper Bell being underrated because of his consistency and quality, others lauded the likes of Alex Bowman. However, one driver seemed to lead the charge in support, and that was Erik Jones. One fan even felt Jones would have more success leaving LMC. “Erik Jones would have a lot more wins in his career if his talent wasn’t being wasted at LMC,” the comment reads. However, to figure out why fans feel he is ‘wasting his career’ we have to dig deeper.

Erik Jones’ journey in NASCAR began with a bang. In 2013, he made his NASCAR Truck Series debut at the tender age of 17 with Kyle Busch Motorsports and registered his first win in just his fifth start! Jones also did not finish lower than 10th in any of his first five truck races. In 2014, he drove his first full-time season for Kyle Busch Motorsports and clinched the NASCAR Truck Series Championship at just 19 years old. These historic achievements caught the attention of Joe Gibbs Racing, where Jones transitioned to the Xfinity Series in 2015.

In the next three seasons, he made waves in the second-tier series with nine wins in 79 starts. Constantly finishing in the top 5 and top 10 in the Xfinity, he finally made the move to the cup in 2017. Jones joined Furniture Row Racing initially, running one full season with five top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes. However, he soon returned to JGR in 2018 and raced alongside NASCAR stars like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. However, his best Cup series days were at JGR and short-lived.

In his three years at JGR, he notched up 2 wins and 28 top-5 finishes. He then moved to Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021 (Now rebranded as Legacy Motor Club) and in his 4 years there he has just one win and five top-5 finishes. A stark contrast in performance.

Legacy Motor Club has been through some tough times, and Erik Jones has suffered with them. After a dismal 2024 run which saw Jones and his teammate John Hunter Nemechek manage just 1 top-5 and six top-10 finishes combined, something had to change. Johnson replaced #43 Jones’ crew chief with Ben Beshore, who was JHN’s crew chief. They then signed Travis Mack to the #42 of JHN. Will these changes spark a change in fortunes for Jones? Time will tell. However, for now, fans feel Jones is a much better driver than his performances suggest.

Fans demand a more competitive seat for Jones

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Erik Jones parting ways with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020 was a shock to fans and even to Jones himself. “I was blindsided a little bit, I didn’t really expect it coming from our talks. I thought we were moving in a good direction,” said Jones to NBCSN in 2020.

What shocked fans and experts even more was joining Petty GMS (Legacy Motor Club), a mid-tier team with fewer resources. Many saw this move as a step back. However, Jones used it to highlight his raw talent. In 2022, he amazed the NASCAR world with a second Southern 500 win, beating top competitors in an unexpected underdog performance. However, that would remain his only win with the team.

With such a promising resume fans often demand a better seat for Jones. One fan praised him and said, “Erik Jones, the guy has won some big races and is in sub-par equipment.” LMC has had its issues over the last few years, but its switch from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2024 would have been a good sign for Jones. After all, he found the most success in the cup series with the JGR Toyota. However, LMC decided to not use Joe Gibbs Racing’s data on the car and did not form a technical alliance with them. This puzzled many, as LMC has been alarmingly poor in the Toyota so far.

With one top-5 and two top-10 finishes and his first cup season without leading a lap, 2024 was not good for Erik Jones, but no one blamed him. One fan emphasized this by saying, “Anyone who can win in a modern day petty gms car is definitely worthy of something behind the wheel.”

One user also recalled his two Southern 500 wins and said, “Erik Jones. Dudes have immense talent but lack the funding. You don’t win 2 Southern 500s and not be an awesome driver.” Jones won the Southern 500 first in 2019 with Joe Gibbs Racing and then, after a change of teams, he did it again in 2022 with Petty GMS.

One fan even compared Jones with three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano and 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick. He wrote, “Erik Jones is the most underrated driver in NASCAR. You look at his stats for his first five seasons and he is comparable to Harvick, Blaney, and Logano in everything but wins in their first 5 seasons.”

Notably, in his first five years, Jones had 33 top-five finishes compared to 27 of Logano and 30 of Harvick. However, Harvick had five Cup Series wins and Logano had three compared to Jones’ three career wins. Despite these demands and comparisons, Jones looks settled with the Jimmie Johnson-led squad. He will continue to drive no.43 Toyota in the upcoming season. Jones will look to make the most of the car and give LMC their much-needed appearance at victory lane.