Analysis: Why Legacy Motor Club move from Chevy to Toyota in 2024 is a good thing
News broke earlier this week that the newly-branded NASCAR Cup series team, Legacy Motor Club, will be switching manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota starting in 2024.
Toyota has been lacking in numbers in terms of the Cup Series with just four Joe Gibbs rides and the two 23XI Racing rides. Another two rides via Legacy Motor Club will bolster their chances of race wins and help the Toyota Racing Development team toward potential driver and owner championships..
The current six rides for Toyota in the Cup Series will jump to eight as both Noah Gragson and Erik Jones are set to become Toyota drivers next year. That is. of course, if both of those drivers stay with Legacy MC next year.
Jones has a prior history with Toyota dating back to his days at JGR, but Gragson has had an affiliation with Chevy and JR Motorsports throughout the majority of his career. Those connections led him to earn the Chevy-backed ride at Legacy MC this year.
Questions could be asked about Gragson wanting to switch over to Toyota due to his Chevy connections, although we should be reminded that Kyle Busch just switched from Toyota to Chevrolet just this year. And let's not forget about the opposite direction: how Tony Stewart left JGR one year after it switched from Chevy to Toyota.
Even if both Jones and Gragson stay with Legacy MC next year, the extra rides will help the TRD program put its drivers in Cup Series cars. Drivers in the Xfinity Series under the TRD program such as Sammy Smith and John Hunter Nemechek could now find it easier to get a Cup Series ride with three different teams under Toyota in the Cup Series.
In the Truck Series, young talents like Tyler Ankrum and Corey Heim may move up the ladder a bit quicker with the extra cars as well. This change of manufacturer, even if not successful on the track, will provide huge steps for the entire Toyota Racing Development drivers and teams starting next year.
In terms of on-track action, the switch to Toyota is one where Legacy will look to shy away from the packed house of Chevy cars and move to a Toyota side where they can try and break through to the top of the food chain.
The new dynamic will allow Legacy MC to be self-sufficient while operating under Toyota. In an interview with Legacy MC co-owner Maury Gallagher, he stated that the partnership would put them on "equal footing" with JGR and that they did not want to rely on an alliance with JGR but that they wanted to be a "stand-alone program."
Doing this should allow Legacy to make decisions around drivers based on what they want to do, rather than having a team like JGR force Legacy MC into putting a "loanee" driver into the car for "valuable reps" before transitioning to JGR.
The big thing to understand here is that Legacy MC is partnering with Toyota rather than a direct partnership with JGR like the other Toyota team, 23XI. As stated by Gallagher, "We want a direct relationship with Toyota at this point. We built the shop to do that. I think, this is the best outcome for the team and gives you the best control of your future;"
New co-owner Jimmy Johnson also stated that the partnership will allow them to "control (their) own destiny." Not to mention that Legacy MC will benefit from a closer connection to its manufacturer, but Toyota will also have a huge benefit by gaining another single-sourced team without expanding the budget a ton.
This move allows for more expansion for Toyota in NASCAR as previously stated. Toyota has a large share in the Truck Series but has lacked in the Cup Series for quite some time now.
Speaking of the NASCAR Truck Series, the question has the be asked about GMS's No. 39 future. Gallagher has confirmed that :GMS Racing and the Trucks is a different company from Legacy Motor Club, but says they will eventually look at the future as far as manufacturer support. This news is big because if they switch manufacturers, that will increase Toyota's dominance in the truck series even more.
Not to mention the impact on the TRD program again, allowing another three possible rides to open up for new drivers.
All in all, this is a huge move for the entire Toyota organization. Toyota gains Cup cars as well as potentially more Truck rides for their developmental drivers. Legacy MC believes that with a closer connection to their manufacturer, they can challenge for more race wins.
We will have to see how this pans out for everyone and every team involved, but as of right now, this seems like a massive move forward for Toyota and Legacy MC.