Despite Jimmie Johnson’s star power, Legacy Motor Club has yet to achieve success in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team’s statistics have been nothing better than average. Johnson realized this last year and made some smart investments, which, according to Dale Jr., could bear fruit this season.

Dale Jr. analyzes Jimmie Johnson’s revised strategy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently discussed the situation for Legacy Motor Club and how Johnson’s investments with Knighthead Capital, which is in partnership with Tom Brady, have given an impetus to the team. There, he mentioned how the seven-time Cup Series champion has invested heavily in the team to put them in a positive direction.

“Eric Jones and John Hunter Nemechek have shown over the past couple of years that when given the right equipment and when things are going well for them, they can go out and get the results,” Dale Jr. said in the recent Dale Jr. Download podcast. “I know Jimmie personally has made a ton of investments and changes in the program hires.”

Following this, the former NASCAR driver, who also co-owns a team, dissected how LMC would want to improve on their statistics.

“They have done a lot of things to try to find a way to establish that program. I think it’s a big year for them to go out and see if they can, if the results can be improved. And it’s really you’re only looking at results on an average, right? You look at what they did last year, average finish, average running position, things like that. Over the course of the season, they want to see an improvement in all those metrics at the end of this year.”

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Jimmie Johnson co-owns the Legacy Motor Club, which was formerly known as Petty GMS Motorsports. Last year, he claimed a minority stake in the team along with Richard Petty, Maury Gallagher, and Knighthead Capital Management.

Notably, renowned NFL star Tom Brady is a part of the Knighthead Capital Management investment group. With so many star powers involved in the team, Legacy Motor Club needs to improve on its performance from last year.

In 2025, Legacy Motor Club drivers finished in 24th and 25th positions. Jones’ best finish came at Darlington, when he finished third. Besides this, he also fetched three Top 5 positions in Texas, Daytona, and Atlanta.

As for Nemechek, his best result came in Darlington as well, with fourth to his name. The #42 driver picked up a top five in Daytona, and three top six finishes in Mexico, Pocono, and Illinois. With that said, it will be interesting to see how LMC drivers perform this year with the changed playoff format, something Jimmie Johnson shared fair feedback on.

Jimmie Johnson shared his thoughts on the changed NASCAR format

In January this year, NASCAR changed the format from its playoff system to bring in the old Chase system. Under this system, a driver can no longer win and qualify for the next round like in 2025 and prior seasons.

The system will have 26 regular races, where the top 10 drivers will qualify for the next round. NASCAR changed the format to make sure consistency receives more importance.

“When you look at it on paper, I don’t know how you find a more fair, year-long way to do it,” Johnson said. “You have to earn every single point along the way, and it created all these interesting touch points of elimination rounds and one-race winner-take-all, so on paper, it played well.”

Coming into 2026, Erik Jones will continue driving the #42 Toyota Camry XSE, as will John Hunter Nemechek with the #43 car. Jimmie Johnson, however, will participate in the Cup Series under a part-time obligation and drive the #84 car.