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John Hunter Nemechek

MotorsportNASCAR

2025 NASCAR: A few standout mid-running teams from the weekend at Texas starting with Ross Chastain from Trackhouse

by Sports Benches

Aside from a Joey Logano win plus two separate car-related issues Sunday at Texas, there’s a few out standout drivers there who benefitted a Stage 3 cut-off of surviving crashes on the run home.

So close from Ross Chastain there in 2nd for Trackhouse – good news that he’s stable above the Top 16 Playoffs line as a win would be lovely for him to focus on a championship guaranteed 100%.

While Legacy MC have may struggled in the normal kind of races but hey, they can be spur us a good moment here and there – especially when it comes to the big and restrictor plate tracks. What’s even better is that they had both Toyota Camrys home in the Top 10 with the No.43 Erik 5th and No.42’s John Hunter Nemechek 8th. They should be proud of themselves and you never know next time? Could be a win that could give them a chance to go further.

There’s a whole lot others who has been more than ready to knock on the front row doors when there’s still plenty of time left ahead of the end of August cut-off. 

However, hats off to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being the one-man show for Hyak after he finished 6th and having won races at these kind of tracks before, sure he will be the next man to win one. That way, he can help them punch above their weight in order to say hi to the big teams via VL.

And the same goes with Austin Dillon in the No.3 Chevy for his family-run Childress side following his 7th placed finish the other day. As long as he finishes races cleanly and positively, AD would no doubt be wanting to win the next race again at a bigger track – and RCR could somehow be on the same page as RFK Racing, Trackhouse and 23XI Racing after all.

He is currently 21st behind Spire’s Michael McDowell in Drivers’ Points as of Race 11 out of 36. We’ll see especially with Kyle Busch steering the ship even though he had an unlucky Stage 3 outing also from the other day that saw him finish 20th.

Now we’re off to Kansas Speedway this weekend which is going to be Fox’s last regular season race of 2025 via the FS1 cable sports network with the All-Star race around the corner. Other than Josh Berry in the No.21 two months ago from Las Vegas, who will the next one to celebrate that isn’t a Top-notch or Big 3 team? 

Time will tell.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR: Thoughts on Legacy Motor Club suing Rick Ware Racing over a charter purchase agreement that gone wrong

by Sports Benches

No secret there from Legacy Motor Club who wants to expand into three full-time cars but it’s a shame that seller Rick Ware Racing has been messing things up lately.

So they decided to bring this up to the courthouse for the judge to decide.

Thought RWR would have taken the chance to improve their on-track performance even more which they haven’t so far this season when Justin Haley moved to Spire along with the other chartered lease to RFK Racing for Ryan Preece.

But if RWR is not serious enough to improve any time soon while making looking to make another quick dime, then they should take the money now (around $40 million USD) before things get ugly.

Not sure what will happen if RWR is gonna do once they’re without charters where maybe might as well they’ll do part-time (see Live Fast Motorsports) but hoping this happens and maybe the No.44 could be back on track potentially as a three-car team with the 42 and 43 so they can go full speed to where they want to be.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR Race Results: Denny Hamlin wins his first race of 2025 with a new crew chief along with some good Top 10-15 results from elsewhere all at Martinsville

by Sports Benches

What a Denny day it has been from the man who led the most laps on his way to his first victory of 2025 earlier today at the paperclip (Martinsville Speedway) & with the Joe Gibbs Toyotas (including Denny’s own 23XI satellite cars) ever so strong up front over the last couple of weeks, no doubt this could be their best year ahead. 

What else? 

  • Good to see Ryan Preece back up another Top 10 finish in the No.60 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing in 7th.
  • Shoutout to Todd Gilliland btw also in a Ford with the No.34 team at Front Row Motorsports and he crossed the line with a Top 10 result in 10th.
  • There’s a bit more room also when Michael McDowell finished 12th for Spire and Ty Dillon 15th with his Aussie crew chief Andrew Dickeson (ex-Erebus crew from Supercars) calling the shots at Kaulig Racing.

And on Legacy MC, yes, their practice and qualifying laps have no doubt continued to shine. However, they just couldn’t quite translate it into race results unfortunately once again every time yellows hold up every now and then – not even a DQ from Erik Jones has helped so little either and he was busted after post-race inspection. 

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MotorsportNASCAR

From last weekend: Kyle Larson pulls off late move over Alex Bowman for the best of Hendrick at Homestead along with some late progress from Erik Jones in 15th for LMC

by Sports Benches

It was a brilliant afternoon of NASCAR Cup racing at Homestead last weekend this time during the early season swing rather than later in the year at Playoffs time headlined by a Hendrick 1-2 finish courtesy of 2021 champion Kyle Larson, who made the winning move over team-mate Alex Bowman in the 48 after Alex brushed the wall a wee bit much with only seven laps to go – how good is racing!

Gotta feel for Bubba there who wasn’t far off the lead from Bowman at the time and then he just couldn’t keep up with those two Chevys on the run home, although he finished 3rd as the leading Toyota Camrys for 23XI Racing ahead of two Gibbs cars which ain’t bad.

Meanwhile, unlucky for his best friend Ryan Blaney in the No.12 Penske Ford following a great start but then a poor Stage 3 restart coupled with a blown engine meant he couldn’t go on through the end -you gotta feel for YRB there. 

Other than the Hendrick Chevy cars being absolutely top-notch up front, it was also good seeing both RFK Ford cars finish Top 10 like the always consistent No.17 Chris Buescher (6th) and so does the statement driver Ryan Preece in the new No.60 team (9th), along with AJ Allmendinger just inside Top 7 for Kaulig Racing (Chevy).

And last but not least for LMC, yeah don’t know what went wrong when a good qualifying run didn’t quite translate into a satisfactory race result. John Hunter Nemechek had that issue from the line in 7th where he was running outside Top 20 but at least the other car in Erik Jones seems to have the better finish thanks to a series of adjustments including the DNF of Ryan Blaney and he came home in 15th.

What can LMC improve going into Martinsville?

So six races out of 36, LMC has the raw pace as seen in practice and qualifying with back-to-back Top 10s which wasn’t bad for a start. But when it comes the race day form, it seems they are sometimes going all over the place inconsistently from up front to the middle of the field.

One thing they’re good at though is their ability to finish races strong – as long as they steer clear out of the crashed and mechanically defunct cars, they are all good to finish whatever track position they can take towards the checkered flag. Other than that, JHN is 18th and Erik is 23rd in Drivers’ Points so another Top 10-15 run or better is the way to go.

It is still a work in progress as said when Jimmie Johnson made a host of off-season changes and right now, they are currently on the up with still a long way to before the No.42 and No.43 Toyotas can start fighting consistently with the front-runners.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR today’s result: Josh Berry another first time winner who just gifted Wood Brothers Racing’s 101st Cup win and a mixed afternoon in LV from Legacy Motor Club

by Sports Benches

It’s good to see another Wood Brothers race win in the space of just over six months from their centurion Cup victory and hats off to hard-worker Josh Berry with his first Cup win. 

Didn’t know there was another first timer making the big rounds at WBR just like Harrison Burton last year at Daytona & don’t forget Young Ryan Blaney too back in June 2017 at Pocono.

For Legacy MC, kinda of a mixed day with John Hunter Nemechek on another Top 20 afternoon (20th) & Erik Jones 27th.

Erik was off to a flyer thanks to his unreal qualifying run from 5th but then a lot of yellows + his own spin ruined his momentum while JHN effective on the long runs as always & able to keep his car clean that benefitted his track position – wish he had good qualifying car though that can change everything.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR today’s result: Christopher Bell goes three-in-a row after he defeated Gibbs team-mate Denny Hamlin at the white flag plus more coming from Legacy Motor Club

by Sports Benches

A bit unlucky there from the No.11 Denny Hamlin but good to see him finish 2nd and how good was Christopher Bell in the No.20 Gibbs Camry once again with another Toyota race win after three races out of four minus the Daytona 500.

Still early days with 2nd chances on the line by everyone else before Bell would want to pull off a Phoenix Raceway clean sweep alongside that championship trophy he long wanted come November for the C’ship 4 finale but so far, so good.

And yes, the same goes to fellow Toyota customer Cup team Legacy MC with a lot to reflect on.

JHN was excellent on the long runs as always like it was last weekend at COTA where he finished in 14th with the exact same difficult circumstances he had to do from the back once again – imagine how serious he could be and the best of this LMC’s on-track results is yet to come.

Erik Jones, meanwhile, may not have been able to hold down a top-half spot especially with a series of yellows holding him back ahead of restarts but not a bad second half session though to sign off at the 43 office in 18th.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR today’s result: Another dominant Toyota weekend by Christopher Bell courtesy of a sensational race-winning move with six laps to go along with an P22 finish of a tough weekend from John Hunter Nemechek at Legacy MC

by Sports Benches

Here’s another Toyota race winning weekend and what a sensational drive Christopher Bell has pulled off against both Chevys in William Byron and Kyle Busch right there & never looked back on his second race win of the new year with 6 laps to go on the final stretch at COTA.

Looks like he’s the early favourite tipped to be the next first-time champion at the No.20 Gibbs Camry even though there’s a whole lot of other races to get through after three weeks of 36 or 37 if you count the All-Star non-points weekend.

And yes for Legacy Motor Club, it may not have been the best weekend, especially when racing on a road course & also in qualifying where they rolled off at the back. But at least both cars came home all in one piece with #43 Erik Jones in 27th while #42 John Hunter Nemechek benefitted some yellows to gain some track position there & he finished 22nd – imagine what could happen if JHN started  a bit further afield with a fighting chance.

Still lots of time though as he’s been happy with the team’s good progress as of late with first two races being Top 10 & sure he will make it three out of four before he’ll be running after a Top 5 very soon.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR today’s result: Another Top 10 run by Legacy Motor Club this time from John Hunter Nemechek in the No.42 on what has been a top Toyota afternoon at Atlanta

by Sports Benches

Fantastic to hear another Legacy Motor Club Top 10 run of 2025 this time at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Race 2/36) by John Hunter Nemechek – who endured a decent No.42 Toyota Camry all afternoon from 22nd to staying right in between Top 10-15 for the most part even though there were multiple yellows where he had the chance at one stage up front – and there goes his solid result for crew chief Travis Mack & his crew on pit road and garage.

Yes, the real test does begin other than the unpredictable restrictor plate races like Daytona 500 last week as he’s 100% right post-race. It goes to show how competitive this can be when going after the regular front-runners for race wins that isn’t Daytona or Talladega but they are getting there though race after race.

You can see how the 77 Spire’s Carson Hocevar was oh so close there particularly at the final restart after he finished 2nd as sure he can go one better sooner rather than later that can mean anything including the Playoffs later this year.

Although unlucky for Erik Jones there in the other Legacy No.43 Camry when he was taken into the wall midway through Stage 2 – wasn’t a team-mate crash though as this was committed by the No.17 Chris Buescher from Ford’s RFK Racing.

But still not a bad weekend to keep themselves through the field from LMC and also Team Toyota in general with Christopher Bell being the 2nd early winner of 2025 for the No.20 Gibbs camp.

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MotorsportNASCAR

NASCAR Today’s Results: Jimmie Johnson Carvana-led 84 team finishes third at the 2025 Daytona 500 with John Hunter Nemechek 5th & Erik Jones 12th that caps off a stunning new season start for JJ’s Legacy Motor Club

by Sports Benches

It was awesome to see Legacy Motor Club begin their 2025 campaign with a bang in their 2nd year using Toyota engines off the back of their huge off-season change of crew and even minority investment thanks to the man of the hour himself Jimmie Johnson.

He still has something to offer whose patience paid off after he came home third even though he races part-time these days, John Hunter Nemechek had a solid Top 5 car all day long other than the late yellows but happy though with 5th & Erik Jones not far off down in 12th – fortunately he was okay.

This is still a team in progress when things will take time but surely they will be more than ready to sweep Top 10-15z every weekend including an odd Playoffs run in possible – time will tell with JJ calling the shots now himself in majority charge.

Plus, happy to see Jimmie’s former team Hendrick celebrating this year’s Daytona 500 win in none other than William Byron.

And shoutout to ex-player Aaron Woods who stopped by at Daytona the other day to promote NRL/Rugby League with the new season opener soon in Las Vegas.

There won’t be a NASCAR race though on the same weekend unlike last year but will they will be back in the middle of March.

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Motorsport

Thoughts on Legacy Motor Club’s huge minor ownership change with Tom Wagner now onboard with Jimmie Johnson running the show more often as majority owner

by Sports Benches

Still a long way to go when it comes to their results following a slow 2024 racing Toyotas for the first time, but Legacy Motor Club certainly made a lot of steps up lately mainly off-track including an ownership change now, with Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Capital just got onboard (who owns Birmingham City) with Maury Gallagher stepping back & 7 x champion Jimmie Johnson running the show more often as majority owner.

Yes, chopping and changing things can be hard especially being team owner rather than full-time racer but at the same time, it looks promising for both the 42 and 43 cars to deliver this year. If they can really be battling Top 10-15 every week plus a win or two, we could see LMC expand into a 3rd full-time car after all – as long as the price is right and they’re content using their own built cars with a Toyota PU.

Whichever one asset they would want to go with expansion, time will tell especially when the charter system has now updated a little for at least another seven years.

But hey, the fresh investment is here for Jimmie Johnson’s team to turn things around thanks to Tom & who knows if the legendary 43 or even 42 turns up in victory lane someday? Watch this space.

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