Jimmy Johnson’s team is in first place. 84 Legacy Motor Club has announced a change to its experienced team. They celebrate the arrival of Gene Wachtel as crew chief for the legendary seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. He replaces Jason Burdett, who left the team in August.
The surprise update was officially revealed during the team’s weekly race preview on Tuesday. After a dominant NASCAR career before moving to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2021 and 2022, Johnson returned to NASCAR in 2023 as a part-time driver and co-owner of the Legacy Motor Club.
Despite his historic success, his experience with next-generation cars saw limited success this year, with his best finish of the year coming in 28th at the Daytona 500 and Dover Motor Speedway. The recent replacement of the brigade commander was a major turning point for the team.
Jason Burdett, formerly Johnson’s crew chief, has moved to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to work with Tanner Gray. It’s been 15 days since the Tricon Garage team left Legacy Motor Club. With a significant change in management structure, the Johnson team is moving in a new direction with Wachtel at the helm.
Gene Wachtel brings a wealth of experience and technical knowledge to his new role. Wachtel’s career began as a test team manager at Dodge Motorsports in 2005 and has held a variety of influential roles at Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and General Motors.
Johnson commented on the addition of Wachtel’s talent to the team:“We’ve only had a few weeks behind the wheel of a NASCAR car, so I think having Gene as our crew chief will be a tremendous addition to our team because of his extensive engineering experience. “I did a great job in the spring at Kansas, but my goal is to pick up where I left off for the No. 84.”
Wachtel was most recently a simulation consultant and technology developer before joining Pratt & Miller in 2017 to strengthen its data analytics strategy and software development.
Prior to his appointment as Team Principal, he served as Performance Director for the Legacy Motor Club, a role he will continue to fulfill in addition to his new duties. “I’m looking forward to working with Jimmy and his 84-man crew in Kansas this weekend,” Wachtel said. “I played a very small role as a data engineer during Jimmy’s first championship season and look forward to leading the ’84 team this weekend at Kansas.”
This leadership change for Team Johnson comes at a critical time as we approach the final stretch of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Johnson has three races remaining: the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the Oct. 20 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Nov. 10 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Wachtel’s experience and fresh perspective could be the catalyst needed to turn the season around.
