DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: When Jimmie Johnson rolls off for DAYTONA 500 qualifying on Wednesday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the seven-time Cup Series champion, will drive a different manufacturer other than Chevrolet.
Johnson will debut his No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE – distancing himself from the Chevrolet brand, the bow tie that carried him to 83 Cup wins, 232 top-five, and 374 top-10 finishes in 689 starts.
The switch to the Japanese manufacturer is an essential step for Johnson, however, and his Statesville N.C.-based LEGACY MOTOR CLUB as the race team is poised to showcase its potential with a vast array of changes made late during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season and carried forward into the offseason.
LEGACY M.C. co-owner Johnson expressed how well the transition has gone for its two-and-a-half Cup Series teams, feeling tremendously optimistic about the changes, including the manufacturer switch.
“It’s been overwhelming in the greatest of ways,” Johnson said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. “The amount of data that we have. The tools that are included with that, tools that we need to design and create.
“We literally had to hire software coders to create the tools that we need because this is a new system, new software for us and we have a lot of responsibilities on our side to receive all of this information, but it has been a great journey, a great partnership.
“We are thankful that they believe in us, and we look forward to taking a big step forward that I mentioned earlier. We know it is going to be tougher as we go here, but it is truly a partnership, and we are very thankful for it.”
Despite the array of changes at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, Johnson sees 2024 as something other than a pivotal year.
“I physically wasn’t around a lot last year for obvious reasons, but I was still heavily involved, and when you look at the partnerships and Toyota coming on board, I’ve been quite active on the revenue or marketing side of the business,” explained Johnson.
“I think we’ve made some great hires in our executive leadership group on the corporate side. We are making some huge strides there. We’ve basically doubled in size in a few short months, so there is a lot of growth, but my involvement has been pretty steady and consistent. It has been really impressive to watch everyone work so hard.
“There are really so many men and women working countless hours to help us make a huge step forward this year. I think this year, I hope, that we do make a huge step forward, and everyone can see it, and it’s noticeable. After that, I think after that it becomes incremental. It is going to be tough to chip away at the people at the top and the people that we want to race with and race with on a consistent basis.”
With the parts and pieces seeming in place for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB drivers Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek to hunt two Playoff positions, Johnson himself is focused on his nine Cup Series races aboard the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE.
Should Johnson be able to deliver his 84th career win, he would be the first among NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers to accomplish such a feat.
“I truly am in this race, the nine races this year – will see what comes about for next year because I just want to race,” explained Johnson.
“Of course, I want to win. Of course, I want to add to the win list and the other aspects of what I’ve been able to do in the sport, but that’s not why I’m here. That goes with saying – that when I put the helmet on – I want to win. That’s just how I’m wired. I’ve shared the reasons why I’m out there. The purest of all is that I just love driving. I love racing. I’m excited to be here for those reasons.”
Johnson had hoped to compete in 10 Cup races this season, but the sponsorship landed at nine – and Johnson readily admitted he is comfortable at that number this season.
“Nine is the number,” added Johnson. “I was kind of around the 10 number, but for Toyota and my team and what we can do, nine seems like a great number for this first year. Partnerships really did dictate that.
“I had an open race or two to pick, and I chose Dover and Las Vegas because I have so many other mile-and-a-half tracks on the schedule, so I thought I’d throw those two in as well.”
For the second consecutive year, however, Johnson isn’t guaranteed in the “Great American Race.” He’ll have to successfully qualify himself either by his qualifying speed on Wednesday night or his performance in his qualifying race on Thursday night at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
“This will be my third time going through it,” Johnson explained. “My very first Daytona 500 I had to go through, and (Chad) Knaus brought a killer car down here, and we won the pole, which made life very easy. Last year was quite nerve-wracking.
“We assumed we didn’t have pole speed, and then the whole guessing game on will we outrun the other non-chartered cars, and here we are again. I do feel like I have less stress on me this year, than last, but when I’m standing on the frontstretch and watching cars go by and see the lap times, I’m sure that will ramp back up, but it is a serious moment.
“We really hope that we can put our best foot forward here in qualifying and be one of those fastest two cars and not have to worry about anything else.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
