Legacy Motor Club might not have been the highlight of the race at Bristol, but an interesting social media post from team owner Jimmie Johnson has sparked a major NASCAR rumor about the team. Specifically about their third charter entry, and most importantly, the driver who will be piloting it. And as far as the rumor suggests, it could be the son of a NASCAR legend.

Former JGR driver could pilot LMC’s third Cup entry

Earlier, Jimmie Johnson confirmed that Legacy Motor Club would expand to a three-car operation: “Yes, we’re expanding to a third car.” The #60 RFK Racing is now owned by LMC and is leased to the team for this season.

However, the question of their new driver still stands. There haven’t been any hints that Johnson or his associates have dropped more recently. But, there is a picture that the 7x Cup champion posted on social media shortly after the Bristol weekend, and he could be seen with former driver Jeff Burton’s son, Harrison Burton.

He captioned the post like he would caption any post after a mediocre race weekend, but this one picture sparked a row of rumors. “Lots to learn from Bristol and a good start to the week catching up on those learnings with the team. We’ll keep building,” he wrote, with the first picture being of him walking with Harrison Burton.

Burton last raced in the Cup Series field with Wood Brothers Racing in the 2024 season. While his career wasn’t the most impressive, he did manage to pull off a few impressive performances, including his victory at Daytona midway through his final season with the team.

Moreover, Burton has some strong sponsors who have been backing him for quite some time at this point, and if there is one thing that Legacy Motor Club needs, it’s better financials. The team has been struggling with performance for a long time, and now that they are preparing to field the third NASCAR charter, they would need a massive injection of that sponsorship profit.

Harrison Burton’s signing with the team also seems to make sense in other ways. He is tied with Toyota right now, unlike his Ford runs in the past, and that being the most successful manufacturer on the field so far this season, it doesn’t sound too bad for him.

And as for Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club, the team could use another experienced driver instead of picking someone with no past involvement in the Cup Series. Considering the performances he has been pulling off in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series so far, LMC does not sound bad for him at all. More like, it sounds like the only viable option for him. But does it align with Johnson’s plans for the future? That is an interesting question.

LMC’s state of racing versus Jimmie Johnson’s mega future plans

“Every decision we’re making really has a long runway on it and how we really position ourselves as one of the big organizations in NASCAR,” he told Johnny Roberts while speaking on the Lights Out podcast earlier.

It is no secret that Jimmie Johnson wants to be one of the big players on the Cup Series field. But that plan, although it sounds strong, seems to have an extremely weak starting point.

In past seasons, Legacy Motor Club has not performed at the top. Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek, although good drivers, just don’t have the right equipment to battle for race wins. Even though Johnson managed to hire the likes of Justin Alexander to the team earlier this year, the results are yet to be seen.

But the better part is, Johnson sees this, as he mentioned: “Looking at our three, five, 10-year plan, you can’t just wave a magic wand over things and have everything you need in a year or two.”

With the likes of 23XI Racing rapidly growing in the Cup Series field and winning races, it currently seems hard for Jimmie Johnson to have a similar level of dominance. But he understands this and has a definitive pipeline for the coming years. So, while Harrison Burton’s rumored signing might not help the team achieve its plans, he will be a part of the journey, which could very well take a decade to execute.