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Legacy Motor Club will run a special livery this Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway to pay tribute to the NASCAR legend Richard Petty, who is also the ambassador of the team.
The #43 Toyota Camry will be painted in the special 'Petty Blue' and 'Day-Glo Red' to pay tribute to the Petty family during their 75th anniversary in NASAR. Iconically, Richard Petty drove the #43 car painted in the same livery to victory in 1984, when he marked his 200th and final Cup Series win.
Erik Jones drives the #43 Toyota in the current NASCAR Cup grid, however, he will miss the race this Sunday. He sustained an injury during the wreck at Talladega last weekend and is currently recovering from it.
Corey Heim will make his Cup Series debut on Sunday as Jones' replacement and have the chance to drive the special livery. He was signed as Legacy Motor Club's reserve driver earlier this year.
The team was formerly called Petty GMS Motorsports but rebranded to Legacy Motor Club early in 2023. John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, and Jimmie Johnson currently drive for the team. The latter is only a part-time driver.
Erik Jones honored to drive Richard Petty's #43 car in the Cup Series
To drive the legendary #43 car in NASCAR is considered to be an honor. Richard Petty drove with the number for most of his racing career. Erik Jones currently drives the Toyota #43 for Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series.
Prior to his injury at Talladega, Jones talked about the Petty family's contribution to the sport in the last 75 years. He was quoted as saying (via NASCAR):
"I think the influence that the Pettys have had on NASCAR is self-explanatory; you can see it through everything that has happened."
"They have been around for 75 years with Lee, then on to Richard, Maurice, Kyle, Adam, and everyone else that has been involved. The years of racing they have put in, the success that they have had in the sport, and the hand that they have played in bringing the sport to its current height, I think is in huge part to the Petty Family," Jones added.
Jones has been driving the legendary #43 since 2021. He also brought it to the victory lane at Darlington in 2022.
“It has been such a huge honor for me to drive the No. 43 for them over the last handful of years while also getting to know them (the Petty Family) better and being a part of it; they are just a really neat family and a neat group of people,” he concluded.
