People, the 2025 Cup Series season may be one for the Cup Series’ smallest teams. Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship and advanced to the championship four, making 23XI Racing an impressive team last season. The same momentum is being brought about by them. Shane van Gisbergen is a member of the rising Trackhouse Racing squad. Folks, Josh Berry won at Vegas, and even Wood Brothers Racing has found a victory this early in the season. Additionally, Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club is another team that is displaying promise. So far, their tale has been good! The true difficulty, though, is keeping it up. The fact that JJ is entirely focused on the ownership role is one factor that appears to be favoring LMC. He is merely running two this season.
He placed third in the Daytona 500 and will now compete in the Coca-Cola 600. That’s all. The issue from the previous year was that he continued to embrace his inner driving. He didn’t place in the top 20 in any of his nine races. Additionally, nobody of his drivers placed in the top 20 at the end of the season. The seven-time champion was obviously unable to balance both. But now, things appear to be moving in the right direction.
Will Jimmie Johnson’s squad have a great season?
JJ had a fantastic start to the year. All of the LMC drivers performed well at the Daytona 500, not just because he regained some form with his P3.
Erik Jones concluded his stint in P12, while John Hunter Nemechek finished in P5! And that too after finishing in P2 after coming so close to winning the Duel race. For a squad that is only in its second year with a manufacturer, that is impressive. Johnson made the decision to go from Chevy to Toyota, and he even declined to use any JGR data to speed up procedures. On the next-generation automobile, his team is collecting its own data. It may result in a long-term gain but a short-term loss. And it appears to be effective. For 2025, LMC has produced a fast automobile. Take a look at Jones’s Daytona 500 qualifying results thus far, where he finished P4. Additionally, a P5 in the most recent Phoenix race and a consecutive P5 at the Las Vegas one.
Although the car is fast, Jones hasn’t been able to duplicate his Daytona 500 results thus far. He has only finished in the top 20 once in his last four races (P18 at Phoenix). This does not imply, however, that the LMC car lacks finishing speed. Examine the statistics for John Hunter Nemechek. Four of his last five races have placed him in the top 20, three in the top 15, and two in the top 10. Perhaps the two drivers ought to trade notes. LMC appears to be headed for success this season if they can integrate their skill sets. “Last season, Legacy Motor Club, including John Hunter Nemechek, was a punching bag,” stated NASCAR expert Eric Estepp. Check out Nemechek’s standings.
Those two top tens are quite good. Both of them arrived to the drafting tracks, but they did so again. There aren’t many bandwagons to join right now, and I can’t join any of them. Thus, this is the final man I will sort of hold out for. John EK has ran admirably; in the first five races, he has finished in the top 20 four times. Eric Jones, his colleague, has qualified exceptionally well; he has two consecutive top five qualifying attempts. Legacy Motor Club might be a strong team if they can somehow combine Jones’s qualifying results with Nemechek’s race results. And this year’s Toyota Camry is really strong. The fact that Christopher Bell won three consecutive races is sufficient evidence.
Add to it Jimmie Johnson’s recent passion for owning a business. To be precise, the majority owner. Now that Maury Gallagher has stepped down, JJ will be in charge. Additionally, LMC seems to be moving in the right way. “Right or wrong, I feel like I’m starting all over again and have my rookie stripe on,” Johnson had previously stated in reference to this. I earned the right to walk through the garage with a certain amount of confidence and swagger because Jimmie’s 1.0 was a driver, but now I’m beginning anew. I’m the new man; it seems like 2002.
My back has the yellow stripe. There is stress associated with a shorter runway because I truly enjoyed the concept of a longer runway to learn. However, I enjoy a good challenge. I’m familiar with and passionate about this industry. I am rather optimistic about the future of our sport. JJ has a strong two-man lineup as well! This season, can Legacy Motor Club win a race? Given Nemechek’s performance thus far this season, this does appear to be a possibility. In just six races, he has already achieved four top 20s; in 36 races last season, he achieved seven top 20s. That represents a growth from year to year. Additionally, he has seriousness in the manner he runs in the Xfinity Series.
completed the 2023 season in P4 after winning seven races. made 11 starts last season and won two races. He obviously did not get the same outcomes in the Cup the previous season. However, that was most likely due to the fact that the Toyota was relatively new for LMC. They appear to have grasped it now. Additionally, we believe Nemechek may win this season. Homestead Miami is the next stop. He has performed admirably at Xfinity. However, Martinsville would be the one to be on the lookout for. With his improved form, he might also be a contender in the Cup Series after winning the race in the Xfinity car. Or he will be in the lead in any race at the Superspeedway.
In the Cup Series, he had an average finish of 14.5 on drafting courses. And Nashville has always been generous to him if things don’t work out. He finished the Xfinity Series with a 3.5-average. This season may be one of the underdogs, people. Let’s see who joins the wave that WBR has created. Nemechek is also coming across as more assured in post-race interviews this season. “I feel good about our result (P20) after we started, but we still have some work to do on our mile and half program but step in the right direction,” he stated following the recent race in Las Vegas.
Additionally, LMC drivers’ mindset is focused on getting better this year. Jones even expressed the same sentiment. After placing 27th in Vegas, Jones stated, “We’ll keep working hard and try to get back on the other side of this with a great result.” People, what are your thoughts? Is 2025 going to be their best season yet? Would they be able to win? Please let us know what you think in the comments section below.
