Jimmie Johnson, with nothing to prove when it comes to his NASCAR legacy, hopes that repeated races behind the wheel of a NextGen will get him where he wants to be in his second season as a part-timer for Legacy Motor Club.
The seven-time Cup Series champion owns Legacy alongside Maurice Gallagher and has now driven this car six times, including three already this spring, with two more races over the next three weeks at Kansas this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway at the end of the month.
His first three starts this year have produced finishes of 28th, 27th and 28th but its also a radically different platform than what he dominated over the past two decades so he says the seat time is getting him more comfortable with this platform.
“Yeah, it’s really helped me inside the car and I look forward to expanding on that this weekend,” Johnson said before this race weekend at Kansas. “And then coming back for the (Coke) 600 and a lot more mile-and-a-half tracks that I’ll run this year.
“I know it doesn’t show it now but being in the car is going to help our competition department as well. This year has been more challenging for us in a lot more ways that we anticipated. But I do think we’re getting closer to a consistent pace that we hope to have week in and week out.
“There’s a real evolution taking place right now and I’m hopeful that we can show that on track this weekend as a group.”
Johnson, 48, runs the car to scratch a competitive itch but also to provide data to his two full-time cars typically driven by Erik Jones in the No. 43 and John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42. Corey Heim is in his second week driving the No. 43 for Jones, who was just medically cleared to resume racing after a lower back fracture last month at Talladega Superspeedway.
His No. 84 car is crew chief’ed by Jason Burdett, the longtime Xfinity Series team leader, who previously worked together at Hendrick Motorsports on the iconic No. 48 team that won so many races and championships under the direction of Chad Knaus.
“It’s been great,” Johnson said. “Jason and I started together on the 48 car and was my car chief back in 2002. I’ve always kept a close eye on him and we’ve always had a good friendship.
“This is his first attempt at NextGen racing, so there are a lot of new things he’s dealing with as am I. But his leadership certainly helps within our walls with the race team, and I think I’m at nine Cup races, so at the other events and his weekly duties, helping the other two teams is quite helpful.
“It’s been a great fit, and you know we’re more focused on today and the competition aspect that we have. Dover was more challenging than we would have hoped, but there were a few bright spots but more challenging than we hoped. But, excited for this weekend.”