Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson reiterated that the decision for Legacy Motor Club to field Toyota NASCAR Cup Series entries beginning next season was prompted by the desire for the team to become a winning organization.
“Toyota is a quality organization; we all know that. Chevrolet, Ford, everybody at this level of competition is good at what they do,” Gallagher said. “Competition burns deep. We here at GMS (Racing) and now Legacy wants to win, and Mike Beam proved that over the years with 41 truck wins, two championships, and the like, and we’re focused on that.
“Chevrolet is a fabulous partner, and we could get there, I’m sure, as well. But when it comes down to it, this seems to be a better move long-term for us with where we’re at. Having Jimmie on board is definitely been a game-changer for us as well, and we consciously have gone about improving ourselves as we could in a lot of aspects to be at the top of this sport.”
Both co-owners made clear they are not leaving Chevrolet. But in expressing multiple times about their long-term expectations for the organization, Gallagher and Johnson said aligning with Toyota presents a good opportunity.
“This is a foundational piece for the club that really makes sense, and we needed to do,” said Johnson. “To have this deep partnership and alignment with Toyota, it’s been a fun period of time to get to know them and understand their passion and how much our core values truly align, and the focusing commitment we’ll all have to the years ahead and the performance we want to have on the track.”
Toyota has long held a desire to add more cars to its fleet. Of the three manufacturers in the Cup Series, Toyota has the fewest cars. The addition of Legacy Motor Club will give Toyota eight in the series next season, alongside four from Joe Gibbs Racing and two from 23XI Racing.
Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson did not pinpoint a date on the calendar when Legacy Motor Club entered the conversation. However, he did say it hasn’t been that long in the making; the deal coming together over the last few months.
“The remarkable thing is from the very first conversation, I think we both had a vision as to the potential, and we just clicked,” Wilson said. “Jimmie, to me, was a garage acquaintance, and we’d nod at each other across the garage space, but I didn’t have a relationship with him. I’ve truly enjoyed just getting to know him.
“Maury and I have been friends in the garage for a couple of years now, and we’ve done a dance or two together about working together, so we kind of had a head start with Maury. But by and large, the thing came together pretty quickly.”