The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the birthplace of NASCAR for the second visit this year. With just two races before the NASCAR Playoffs begin, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is sure to see hot action on track as those teams on the outside of the playoff bubble look to make it in.
Recap of the First Visit: During the DAYTONA 500, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB kicked off the year with both entries finishing inside the top 10 with John Hunter Nemechek finishing in seventh and teammate Erik Jones finishing in eighth. CLUB co-owner Jimmie Johnson was caught up in an accident near the end of the event and wasn’t able to continue on.
JHN Stats: Nemechek has lots of experience at Daytona across all three major racing series. In the Cup Series, he has four starts equaling two 11th place finishes, and most recently a seventh-place finish in this year’s DAYTONA 500. In the Xfinity Series, Nemechek scored one top-five and three top-10s in six starts. Nemechek has five starts in the Truck Series, leading 77 laps compiling one top-five and two top-10 finishes.
Beshore Stats: Crew chief Ben Beshore is looking to get over the hump at Daytona. During his career as a NASCAR crew chief, Beshore had 13 total starts with six in the NASCAR Cup Series and seven in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In the NCS he has three top 10s to his resume while in the NXS he has three top-fives including two runner-up finishes.
Ride Along: The No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE will be carrying an on-board camera this weekend for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday. Be sure to tune into the race broadcast for a peek of what JHN sees during the race!
EJ Stats: Jones has a decent record in the Cup Series at Daytona as he scored a thrilling win while racing the No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the Coke Zero 400 in 2018. Jones only led one lap that night, and it was the final one. He has 15 starts at the 2.5-mile track and has led 61 laps en route to one win, two top five and four top-10 finishes. Jones finished eighth in the season-opening DAYTONA 500. He also has experienced Daytona in the NASCAR Trucks and Xfinity series.
Elenz Stats: Crew chief Dave Elenz arrives to the superspeedway with three wins, all in the Xfinity series. Since arriving to Cup with Jones, Elenz has one top-10, which they earned this past February. All five of Elenz’s Cup starts have been with Jones in the No. 43 car.
Martinsville Test: The No. 43 LEGACY M.C. team participated in a NASCAR test at Martinsville Speedway on Tuesday, August 20 in preparation for the upcoming event in November. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB was one of four teams participating in the test working on some items for NASCAR.
Happy Birthday!: Rear tire changer on the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety team, Chris Shuman celebrates a birthday on Tuesday, Aug. 20. Shuman hails from Conover, North Carolina
Lending His Voice: Seven-time Cup Series champion Johnson will return to the track this weekend wearing an NBC polo, holding a microphone, as he joins NBC’s broadcast team for coverage of the 400-mile event at Daytona. Johnson was part of the NBC team for the Indianapolis 500 in May, and will report on Daytona, Talladega and Phoenix at the end of the season.
Throwback to JJ Sweep: Johnson has 40 starts at the storied Daytona International Speedway throughout his career. He has two wins in the DAYTONA 500 (2006, 2013) and one in the Coke Zero 400 (2013). After sweeping both of the 2013 races, Johnson and his team decided to film a video on the frontstretch to celebrate and the video went viral at the time. Click HERE to relive the Harlem Shake in Daytona and and HERE to listen to how it came about.
Partner Spotlight: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB partner, AdventHealth, is the official health care provider for the Daytona Tortugas, a minor league baseball team in the Daytona Beach area. The Tortugas recently hosted a “NASCAR Night” which promoted the sport as well as LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’S drivers, executives, and pit crew members. AdventHealth gave away No. 43 t-shirts as a nod to their partnership with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. See the link HERE to view the t-shirts: In addition, AdventHealth sponsors the Infield Care Center at Daytona International Speedway.
Going for G.O.L.D.: Partners Dollar Tree and Family Dollar will honor store #8021 this weekend as a part of the company’s “Go for G.O.L.D.” (Grand Opening Look Daily) program. The Dollar Tree and Family Dollar primaries will highlight these stores on the deck lid of all three LEGACY M.C. entries throughout the race season. Store #8021 is located in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Erik Jones, Driver of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:
“The strategy at Daytona is always a little tough. I think for us, we’ve kind of just raced all day most of the last few times we’ve been there. Just try to be up front and in contention and hopefully have a fast car, just show everybody that we’re quick enough to go up and work with and race for the win, so hopefully similar to that and battling up front all day long.”
“When we won there in 2018, it was kind of an up and down day. We were involved in a wreck about halfway and lost a lap repairing damage and didn’t get back on the lead lap until late in the evening. It was kind of a last-minute win. We found our way to the front. There was a lot of carnage, a lot of chaos and we ended up in contention for it and I was able to grab my first Cup win at that point. It was pretty fun, would love to get back to Victory Lane there again and obviously get ourselves into the playoffs, so hopefully we can go and knock one out.”
Dave Elenz, Crew chief of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE:
“Daytona can be a wild card of a race. You try not to get caught up in chaos early so you can be there at the end to finish well. It’s a track that is unpredictable, but fortunately I’ve been able to visit Victory Lane there a few times. Hopefully we match our speed with strategy this weekend and get our No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE in Victory Lane.”
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver of the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE:
“Racing at Daytona and restrictor plate racing in general is pretty fun. Earlier this year during the Daytona 500. We almost put ourselves in a position to have a shot to win the race with just a few laps left. Looking forward to going back there. We’ve been able to lead some laps at another Superspeedway this year (Talladega Superspeedway), so confident in our superspeedway program with our Toyota Camry XSE. But man, things can happen fast so hope to not get caught up in the “big one” and put yourself in good spots towards the end of the race and hopefully have some Toyota teammates to be able to work with and have a good strategy by saving enough fuel and be there at the end when it counts.
My mindset going into the race is just to go out and do the best that we can as a team, everyone on the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team, we wanna go out and try and win the race. This is one of our opportunities, one of our final opportunities to win and lock ourselves into the playoffs. We’re gonna go out there and try and do that try and put ourselves in the spot that we need to that we feel like we need to and try and get a win ourselves in the playoffs — it would be huge to be able to do that. I don’t think anyone would really see that coming from the year that we’ve had so far so hopefully we can. We can do that and celebrate after Saturday night but looking forward to getting there looking forward to qualifying on Friday racing on Saturday and just overall trying to have a really solid weekend and then going down there to try and win.”
Ben Beshore, Crew chief of the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE:
“We have to win to get into the playoffs, this is one of our best shots to do that here in the next couple of weeks. Just because there is so much chaos and anything can happen in the draft. It’s more about being there at the end, car positioning, avoiding the wrecks and being in the right place at the right time. Hopefully we can capitalize on that. We’ve had some really good speedway races this year with the Daytona 500 finishing in the top 10 and leading some laps at Talladega [Superspeedway] so looking forward to it and hopefully we can put a good car underneath [John Hunter Nemechek].”
“For us it will be about putting [Nemechek] in the best track position to begin Stage 3 or putting ourselves where we need less fuel at a pit stop under green during Stage 3; something where we can leapfrog our way to the front at the end of the race. We’re not concerned about stage points at all, getting caught up in an early wreck doesn’t make sense for us – we just need to be there at the end and position ourselves. Whether that is laying back in Stage 1 and preserving the car for the end and don’t want to get caught up in someone that has a different agenda.”
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