It can be said with much certainty that Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club driver isn’t dreaming small. While the team did not win a single race in 2025, Johnson’s team made quite the comeback last year and captivated everyone with a remarkable turnaround, including top-five finishes at the Daytona 500 earlier in the year. But now with new changes in the playoff format, the seven-time Cup Series driver’s star racer is moving beyond just turnaround results and is fully locking himself in for the 2026 season.

Erik Jones is more than done with the winner-take-all elimination-style format that existed for years, and now, when asked about opportunities to snag a win with the new format in place, the No. 43 driver is more than optimistic.

“I think so. You know, obviously, a big goal of ours this week or this year is winning a race, but you know, beyond that, I think for me, I’ve always been able, like you said, to hold a pretty consistent pace. In 2022, we were well into the points race and didn’t win a race until the first round of the playoffs at Darlington. Sorry, we didn’t get to join that year. So, yeah, I’d love to see how it’s all going to work out this year,” he said in conversation with The Backstretch podcast.

For some context, Jones has made the NASCAR Cup playoff twice under the elimination-style format that ran from 2014 through 2025.

His first postseason appearance came in 2018 after he secured his first career cup win at the Daytona Coke Zero Sugar 400, which earned him a spot in the round of 16 before being eliminated in the opening round.

Jones returned to the playoffs the following year with a victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington but again did not advance past the first round of the postseason.

Moreover, while Jones showed progress with LMC, climbing from 28th to 24th in the final standings and recording multiple solid runs that reflected improved consistency, a win is still out of reach.

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However, despite not winning and missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, he recorded four top-five and five top-10 finishes, including a strong third-place finish at Darlington, one of his best tracks.

But the improvement points to momentum and growth for both the driver and the team under Johnson’s guidance, with optimism that continued progress could translate into a return to victory lane and playoff contention in 2026.

And now, the 2026 Chase format is here to change it up.

Under the updated system, the top 16 drivers in points at the end of the 26-race regular season will advance to a 10-race championship run, but there are no rounds or eliminations once the chase begins.

Drivers will qualify strictly by points rather than by wins, and points will be reset once for the Chase, with seeding based on regular season standing

For someone like Erik Jones, this format could play to his strengths.

Throughout his career and particularly in 2025, Jones has shown he can accumulate solid points through consistent runs even without winds, which is key under the new system, where wins don’t automatically qualify you for the chase, but strong overall point performances do.

But as Jones warns the community about the difficulties of racing at the season opener, Bowman Gray Stadium, amid freezing conditions, the No. 43 driver has set a clear goal for the non-paying points race, too.

Erik Jones leaves no stone unturned amid his winning mentality

Jones returns to the very delayed Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium for the second time, hoping to avoid the late race chaos that knocked him out in 2025. After finishing it in his heat last year, Jones battled through the last chance qualifier and briefly led before contact on a late restart ended his night.

The LMC driver already has a Clash win on his resume, taking the 2020 victory at Daytona after surviving multiple incidents and receiving a final push from Denny Hamlin.

However, this weekend he will race with a new crew chief, Justin Alexander, who replaces Ben Beshore on the No.43 AdventHealth Toyota.

And now, the hunt for a win is on.

“I just hope we have a good car and a shot to transfer to make it into the main race. I’m excited about that and about working with Justin (Alexander, crew chief). He and I got some time together during the test at North Wilkesboro to work on communication, not only between us but also with the No. 43 team guys. I think Bowman Gray will be a good extension of what we learned as a group there. Hopefully, we can have luck go our way and stay out of trouble so we can make the main event on Sunday,” he said.

How the No. 43 team performs this weekend could offer an early look at their speed and chemistry heading into the 2026 Cup Series season, and all eyes will be on Jones this time around.