What Jimmie Johnson-led LMC drivers said after breakthrough performance in Texas 

Jimmie Johnson-owned Legacy Motor Club impressed the NASCAR community with their recent performance at the Wurth 400 race in Texas Motor Speedway. Erik Jones, driving the No. 43, and John Hunter Nemechek, driving the No. 42, wheeled in their Toyotas inside the top 10 for the first time in a non-drafting track this Sunday, May 4.

With more than 10 cautions in the final moments of the Texas race, the two driver maneuvered their way through the chaos and maintained their track position for a strong finish in the season's 10th race.

In his milestone race of 300th NASCAR Cup start, Jones took the green flag at P14 and placed himself inside the top 10 to earn a stage point. However, a couple of speeding penalties later in the race made him fall back, and he started his struggle until he drove clean an array of wrecks in the last stage. Thus, bringing home his best effort for the 2025 NASCAR season.

In a post-race interaction, Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR driver Erik Jones reflected on his strong showing and said, via Jayski:

"It was a sloppy day in a lot of ways. We had two pit road penalties, but just happy to come back from it and get a top-five. It would have been pretty disappointing to have a car this good, kind of our first car this year that’s been pretty strong, to throw it away. I thought we were headed that way, but it turned out well. I would love this to be the start of our summer stretch and just keep it going.”

On the other hand, Nemechek took an aggressive approach and bagged his third top 10 finish. Looking back on an eventful race, the 27-year-old North Carolina native said:

"We unloaded with speed this week, which was nice, in practice. Had good long run speed. It was an up-and-down day for us. Just kind of all over the place with what we had. Glad to come home eighth. The last couple of restarts were tough with the positions that we were in. I’ve got to get better from a driver’s standpoint racing up towards the front, but I haven’t had any chances at that, so [I’m] progressing and learning."

Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion, debuted with his team in 2022 with Chevrolet as the manufacturer. However, after they transitioned to Toyota last season, it hasn't been a joy ride for the Statesville, North Carolina-based organization, as per Johnson.

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"We have to build all that ourselves": Jimmie Johnson weighed in on struggle of manufacturer change

Speaking with journalist Davey Segal, Jimmie Johnson pointed out how they were building their organization with no alliance from any other major NASCAR teams. Moreover, in heavy data-driven sport, the 49-year-old spoke about another newly formed team, 23XI Racing, who have a good alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and has been thriving.

"When you think about the software and the tool change, we have to build all that ourselves, so we're writing code and building applications and developing software from ground zero, and that's an element that was not forecasted in the experience. I knew there'd be some, Toyota thought there'd be some, but to the level of which, it's been a lot," Jimmie Johnson said.

While the transition has been harder than expected for Jimmie Johnson, his two LMC drivers have been putting in the work and have shown impressive stats this year.

Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek will return in action for the Kansas Speedway race on May 11.