Richard “The King” Petty Molded Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Brainchild Amidst Shaky Beginnings

Legacy Motor Club is far from your average NASCAR team. Their 2024 results might not tell the full story, but this isn’t just any underdog operation. Behind them stands the combined wisdom of 14 Cup Series championships. That’s right—Richard Petty, “The King” himself, may no longer hold the majority ownership of the team that evolved from Richard Petty Motorsports just two years ago, but he’s still in the mix. Now serving as Legacy’s Club Ambassador, Petty continues to lend his legendary insight alongside the relentless drive of fellow seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and his co-owner Maury Gallagher.

Regardless, NASCAR is a game of consistency first, then legacy (no pun intended). And not many people have defined those two words nearly as well as Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty. And with the latter’s dedication to the sport at 87 years of age inspiring the former to keep pushing and make their team a force to be reckoned with each passing day, the statistics should tip in their favor sooner rather than later.

Legacy Motor Club: Where ‘Kings’ and seven-time champions build their futures

Recently, Jimmie Johnson sat down with longtime sports commentator Jeff Hammond for a conversation on the fifth annual Race Industry Week webinar. When Hammond inquired about the impact of The King’s knowledge on Legacy Motor Club, his admiration for Petty was evident. With Petty being one of the leading figures in the team, Hammond knew the impact he had on the business side of things. 

And to that, Johnson swiftly agreed, “Yeah, without a doubt. I mean his love of the sport… I think The King went to 26 or 27 races last year. You know Dale Inman, his partner-in-crime, right there with him, going everywhere. They are such wonderful people,” gushed the California native. “And you know, their commitment to the sport and love of it is extremely inspiring. I went and had fun at IndyCar for a couple of years. But I always knew NASCAR, this is where I grew up and where I wanted to end up being involved on some level.” Jimmie Johnson doesn’t just see himself as the successor to Richard Petty’s seven-time glory; somewhere the anchor point brings him closer to the sport of NASCAR and simultaneously, his relatively new race team that’s been struggling lately.

What Johnson refers to is the work Richard Petty put into keeping Richard Petty Motorsports afloat. Back in 2010, things didn’t look so good for the team. Their cars were confiscated for the second time in October due to payment issues with suppliers RFK Racing. Amidst constant rumors of shutting down, The King partnered with Medallion Financial and DGB Investments, shelling out millions from his own pockets to bail the team out. Nearly a decade later, he brought Gallagher and then Johnson on board, giving rise to Legacy Motor Club. Johnson would take over the day-to-day operations from Petty.

But it doesn’t stop at Richard Petty’s invaluable experience. “Partnering with Maury (Gallagher) has really just been an incredible opportunity for me,” asserted Johnson. “And we just have these opposing needs that the other can really offer. And as we looked at the name Petty GMS and thought about, you know, what are we gonna call ourselves? I was very adamant, and put a lot of time and effort into Legacy Motor Club because I feel that the name gives us a lot of optionality.” Combine all that passion with Jimmie Johnson’s relentless drive to succeed, and most would opine that Legacy is sitting on an undiscovered winning formula. But that hasn’t been the case lately. 

Their drivers—Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek combined for just six top-10 finishes this season. At the same time, they’ve racked up ten DNFs between themselves. That is not a positive disparity by any means. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson’s part-time return in the #84 car has yet to deliver a spark. He hasn’t cracked the top 20 in any of his outings this year or last. With Johnson leading things on the racing front, Gallagher remained at the helm for the business side of things, and from the looks of things, it’s paying off. The team has big-name sponsors on board, with companies like Mobil 1 and Advent Health just to name a few.

However, as Johnson explained, “Now in the Club, we have Matt Kenseth working with us. And also, Trevor Bayne and the legacies they’ve created. And we certainly hope our two drivers in John Hunter and Erik Jones, create their own legacies in our cars.” Indeed, things look like they’re on an encouraging curve for Jimmie Johnson’s race team. Erik Jones recently signed a multi-year contract with them. But the question remains: where does it all go from this point onwards with Legacy Motor Club? 

Inside Jimmie Johnson’s master plan for LMC’s rise

Jimmie Johnson stressed one of LMC’s strengths quite a lot: the “optionality” that presents itself with an ambiguous name like Legacy Motor Club. It certainly helps, “even expansion if we choose to race in other championships,” revealed Johnson. “We can still put a lot under the name itself.” Now, not reading too much into the lines, but this could very well mean Legacy is looking to branch outwards if opportunities arise beyond stock-car racing. They already had that Extreme E gig lined up with Travis Pastrana and Gray Leadbetter. Hence, it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. But it turns out, the Legacy Motor Club name isn’t as ambiguous as it looks on the surface.

As Johnson puts it, “In my heart, I feel like the ‘Motor Club’ piece is something that we haven’t had a chance to really build out yet because we’ve been focused more on the motorsports, the racing side… There is a large fanbase out there that is craving more. And it can be high-level experiences, mid-tier, you know, more day-in and day-out experiences. But there is such an appetite for motorsport… We see it around the globe, and we watch Formula One come into the States, and now have three events. You name it. All motorsports are trending up, and there is an opportunity there for us to reach our fans, and to really reach all fans…”

Sounds like the ownership consortium is pondering some major expansion plans for Legacy. But how soon will they act on it? Quoting Johnson directly, “We hope to lean into that more as the ‘25 season kicks off and beyond.” Certainly, these are some welcome bearings for the organization still treading experimental waters, stepping into what is realistically their third off-season since inception. They await a clean slate ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series grind. For all other aspirations, the results are what will ultimately make the difference.