Legacy Motor Club switches manufacturer to Toyota for 2024

 

Photo from Legacy Motor Club on Twitter

    Legacy Motor Club will transition manufacturers to Toyota for the 2024 season, the team announced on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. 

Legacy Motor Club, previously known as Petty GMS Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, and Petty Enterprises is the NASCAR race team most associated with seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty. Now owned by GMS Racing's Maury Gallagher and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, the team will make changes to become a part of the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) pipeline.

The racing entity has been associated with Chevrolet since 2018, but has known many manufacturers through its long history. The team has known manufacturers such as:

• Dodge
• Oldsmobile
• Plymouth
• Ford
• Buick
• Chevrolet
• Pontiac

Although the Petty family is apparently no-longer associated with the race team, the 'legacy' of this organization will expand as new ownership adds to the list.

"Maury Gallagher and I are very excited about the partnership with Toyota and TRD beginning in 2024," said Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson, in a prepared statement.

 "We admire and respect the level at which Toyota conducts their business in this sport and look forward to forging a new legacy for the future. I will always be appreciative to Chevrolet and everything we have accomplished together. I’m so thankful they took a chance on a kid from California so long ago and proud that the history books will forever memorialize our record-breaking success we shared."

"Jimmie Johnson and Maury Gallagher have impressed us with their long-term vision and commitment to building a championship caliber organization. More importantly, their character and values are aligned with ours and our current Cup Series partners, Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing. Of course, we also look forward to being reunited with our old friends, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson," said David Wilson, president of TRD U.S.A, in a prepared statement.

Both current drivers of the team, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson have roots with Toyota.

Jones' NASCAR career began in the Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports, which was a Toyota team at the time. As his career advanced, Jones joined another Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing where he won races in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series. 

In 2021 Jones made the move to Richard Petty Motorsports, when Christopher Bell became the driver of the No. 20 in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Noah Gragson also began his NASCAR career in the Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports. He drove Toyota Tundra's for the team from 2016, until 2018. 

Gragson even made his NASCAR Xfinity series debut with Toyota and Joe Gibbs racing in 2018, before moving to JR Motorsports and Chevrolet for the 2019 season.