It is not uncommon for NASCAR’s team owners to have high aspirations for their teams, especially if your name is Jimmie Johnson, winner of seven Cup Series championships. Having done it all as a driver, Johnson now has his eyes set on being great as an owner with Legacy Motor Club.
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Jimmie Johnson reflects on his aspirations with LMC
“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. When Johnson joined the ownership group at the transitioning Legacy Motor Club, it would have been tough to guess where he wanted to take the team. Right now, with the likes of Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek piloting for them, they haven’t hit any significant milestones, winning just one Cup Series race in their time as a NASCAR team.
But Johnson has been making quite a few decisions behind the scenes, using a Tetris approach in his ownership by breaking down complex tasks. He confirmed the latest development for the team on his appearance on the podcast.
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“Yes, we’re expanding to a third car.” The #60 with RFK Racing is a charter on lease, which is now owned by LMC, and will serve as the team’s third charter beginning in the 2027 season. However, the driver selection process has made Jimmie Johnson realize that owning a team is not an easy task, as he is using the ‘Tetris’ approach to fulfill his team’s requirements.
“I almost took for granted at Hendrick, driving for Rick in such an incredible organization and operation. But I’m truly enjoying this journey and trying to put the Tetris pieces together,” he added. “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.”
To even think about taking down the big three: Hendrick, Penske, and Gibbs, is a massive task. The trio have 20 Cup Series championships between them, and competing against them is going to be rather challenging for the 7x champion, in more than just one way.
Johnson could face a massive challenge from a fellow team owner
As challenging as it sounds, Jimmie Johnson is not the only team owner aiming to take down the Big 3 on the field. In fact, it is someone whose interests are very similar: Denny Hamlin.
While the latter still competes full-time on the Cup Series field with Joe Gibbs Racing, he, ironically, claimed earlier this year that he wanted to take down the Big 3 with 23XI Racing, his Cup Series operation that he co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan.
“They’ve got the best people, great drivers. It’s hard, really, really hard to overtake those guys, but we want to be one of the teams that can challenge that weekend week out. We don’t want to go to the racetrack thinking, well, our expectation should be 10 to 12 because surely all the Gibbs and Hendrick and Penske cars are going to be one through 10 on speed,” he said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
While this could be a fun challenge for both Johnson and Hamlin, the latter seems to be moving in the right direction. The basic difference is that Hamlin built the team from scratch with massive investments into their race shop and other training facilities. 23XI has already expanded to a three-car operation and is currently dominating the 2026 season with Tyler Reddick, comfortably leading the driver standings.
All in all, while both Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin share a very similar aspiration for their teams, there could be massive setbacks that they might have to face. Winning races is one thing, and dominating is another. Challenging the Big 3 is something that not many have managed to achieve in recent years, but will either of these two NASCAR legends be able to achieve that?
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Godwin Issac Mathew