Toyota received its breakthrough when Legacy Motor Club decided to switch to them from Chevrolet in the season’s beginning. Jimmie Johnson and his co-owner Maury Gallagher were excited too in their new venture with the new OEM. With the LMC deal, Toyota’s car count in the Cup Series rose from six to eight. Other than LMC, the Japanese company runs four cars deal with JGR, and two with 23XI Racing.

In an interesting turn of events, Toyota’s upgraded models are running riots on the track. In the qualifying session ahead of the short-track Phoenix race, Toyota models secured four out of the top six spots. On the flip side, Jimmie Johnson’s ace Erik Jones is not that satisfied with the new body of his car.

The fruits and labor not showing up yet, thinks Erik Jones

Legacy MC’s No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE driver opened up to Frontstretch after the practice sessions. Jones and his teammate, John Hunter Nemechek have driven an upgraded model of Toyota in all four races this season. Kevin Nik questioned Jones about how he feels about the new Toyota model and what are the changes from last season. Jones replied that there are a lot of things that are being worked upon in a way to make him and his team satisfied.

Jones stated, “Well, not really yet, you know, I don’t think the fruits and labor are showing yet. I think today was first day, it has a little bit top five qualifying is good, it’s something we haven’t done in a long time with our group. So, that’s nice, but we are still working through the back end and kind of in the wheels. On some stuff, getting it all worked out and making it how we want it to be.”

Although he might not like what is being served to him, Jones is all praise for Toyota, talking about their cooperation with them. “Toyota’s been working hard with us you know, trying to get things where we want them to be. And today is going to help us kind of working down that road,” he said.

Jimmie Johnson’s ace has a decorated history with Toyota though. He received the rookie-of-the-year award in all Cup, Truck, and Xfinity series, eventually all in Toyota cars.

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Jimmie Johnson and LMC eyeing for a big season ahead

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With Erik Jones running in splendid form, and JHN taking by surprise now and then, LMC is expecting a better outcome from the two in this season. Their best came at the iconic Daytona 500 race, where JHN finished at P7 and Jones ended at P8. Other than that, Jones acquired enough appreciation after his last race in Las Vegas. Even though he had to be satisfied with a P14 finish, his smart racing tactics did not go unnoticed by experts.

With his special running method to withstand tremendous wind pressure, Jones dragged himself to the top-15 finish. Dale Inman lauded this approach by saying, “I don’t believe they could have come up behind a tractor-trailer and blowed that one off… That was a good pit strategy.” Richard Petty too joined in, “They probably took a 28th and 30th place car and finished 14th with it.”

Jones secured a fourth spot in the qualifiers yesterday behind JGR’s Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and HMS’ Chase Elliott. He has a great chance to take advantage of this starting position and convert this into a victory at Phoenix Raceway. Can the recent modifications to his new Toyota body help him secure his and his team’s first win this season?

Read More: Jimmie Johnson’s New Allegiance With Toyota Off to Rocky Start as the Veteran Was Left Stranded at Daytona Duel