Legacy Motor Club

Legacy Motor Club emerged from one of the most storied structures in the NASCAR paddock. On December 1, 2021, businessman Maury Gallagher, owner of GMS Racing, acquired a majority stake in the legendary Richard Petty Motorsports. Both organizations merged their Cup Series programs ahead of the 2022 season under the name Petty GMS Motorsports, headquartered in Statesville, North Carolina, where the team remains based today.

A new chapter in the team’s history was written in January 2023: After seven-time Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson acquired a stake in November 2022, the organization rebranded as Legacy Motor Club. For the first time since NASCAR’s founding in 1949, no team bearing the Petty name competed in the top series. The new name was deliberately chosen to honor both legends, Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson, whose legacy as seven-time champions lives on in the organization’s designation.

The team’s greatest sporting achievement to date came in its inaugural season as Petty GMS Motorsports: In 2022, Erik Jones drove the number 43 Chevrolet to victory in the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington, marking the new organization’s first Cup Series win and a milestone that laid the foundation for the eventual transition to Legacy Motor Club.

Under CEO Cal Wells and Team President Michael Guttilla, who previously served as COO at Joe Gibbs Racing, Legacy Motor Club now competes with three Toyota Camrys, operating since 2024 under a technical alliance with Toyota Racing Development. Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek form the core driver duo in the number 43 and 42 cars, while co-owner Jimmie Johnson pilots the number 84 in part-time competition.

With a strategic ownership group formed in 2026 that includes Darius Rucker, Guy Fieri, Scott Dixon, and Dario Franchitti, along with backing from Knighthead Capital Management, the team’s financial and institutional foundation continues to grow. For the 2026 season, Legacy Motor Club is banking on driver continuity and further expansion of its technical partnership with Toyota to build on its early successes and establish itself as a sustained competitor in the top tier of the Cup Series.