Erik Jones, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Agree to Multi-Year Contract Extension
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE in the NASCAR Cup Series, the team confirmed in an announcement on Tuesday.
Jones is currently in his fourth season with the NASCAR Cup Series organization, previously known as Petty GMS Motorsports after the team was acquired from Richard Petty Motorsports, before rebranding to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB ahead of 2023.
"Erik Jones has been the consistent cornerstone of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB's driver lineup since Maury [Gallagher] chose to enter NASCAR's highly competitive Cup Division," said Cal Wells III, CEO of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. "He's a proven champion that, surrounded with the right team powered by Toyota, can and will compete for race wins against the very best on any given Sunday. Having personally known Erik for close to 14 years, I feel blessed he's chosen to remain with the CLUB and I'm looking forward to winning races with him at the helm of the iconic No. 43.”
The 28-year-old driver is currently contesting his eighth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he along with young teammate John Hunter Nemechek have been tasked with aiding LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in its switch from Chevrolet to Toyota made over the off-season.
In 276 NASCAR Cup Series starts Jones has managed to record three victories, including wins in the 2019 and 2022 editions of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Byron, Michigan-native's statline also includes 37 top-fives, 89 top-10s, and a career-high points position of 15th in 2018.
“Erik is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR, I’ve had the chance to race against him and have had a chance to watch him drive for other teams and the CLUB,” said co-owner Jimmie Johnson. “I admire his talent and am glad we will have him race for us for the upcoming years. Erik will be a key to helping us turn our program around and we look forward to giving him the tools he needs to go out on Sundays and race for wins and eventually a championship someday.”
During his rise to the top-echelon of NASCAR, Jones accumulated a plethora of victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he climbed the ladder as a member of the Toyota Driver Development Program.
“I’m looking forward to what we can build at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. I’ve been with the No. 43 car for a handful of years and feel like I’m coming into some of the best years of my career. I am hoping to grow alongside LEGACY M.C. in the seasons to come,” said Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE.
It's been a pretty difficult 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign for Erik Jones and the No. 43 team thus far, scoring just a single top-10 finish (an eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500) in the first 21 events of the season, relegating the driver to 28th in point standings.
One of the biggest accomplishments of the 2015 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion's career is becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win Rookie of The Year in all of NASCAR's National Series, and doing so in consecutive seasons (Trucks 2015, Xfinity 2016, and Cup 2017).
JOSEPH SRIGLEY