Promising Brickyard run could help turn around struggling Legacy Motor Club

When the checkered flag flew over the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19, Legacy Motor Club seemed to be in a great position. Drivers Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek collected top-10 finishes in NASCAR's biggest race, giving the team's stint with Toyota an excellent start and the organization momentum for the longest season in professional sports.

Since Daytona, however, the team's outlook has shifted dramatically. Jones and Nemechek sit 27th and 31st in points , respectively, and own only four top-10 finishes in 42 combined starts.

While Jones has performed slightly better than his teammate, his eighth-place effort in the Daytona 500 remains his only top-10 finish this season.

However, it seems the organization has a penchant for performing in big races, as Sunday's Brickyard 400 showed what Legacy is capable of when the stars align.

In perhaps the team's best showing of the season, Jones finished 28th, Nemechek 29th and 48-year-old Jimmie Johnson — making one of his part-time starts — ended up 33rd.

Jones was the only Legacy driver of the three to not run up front in Sunday's race, qualifying 29th and finishing 28th, but his teammates picked up the slack.

At a track where it is notoriously difficult to pass, Saturday's qualifying session proved to be of utmost importance. Nemechek notched his best starting position (10th) since the Daytona 500 and used his track position to remain near the front for much of the race.

Nemechek's most impressive feat of the race, however, was his pass for the lead. Racing on older tires than those used by several drivers near the front of the field, he took the lead from polesitter Tyler Reddick on lap 56. He led 16 laps before getting four fresh Goodyear tires at the next caution flag.

Unfortunately for Nemechek, the hope of a season-best finish was ruined on lap 162. He restarted 16th for the race's first overtime period, but found himself a victim of the "Big One" in turn one, relegating him to a 29th-place result.

Driving a decent car and using a solid pit strategy, Johnson had the best effort of his part-time Cup Series career. He restarted in 11th with 52 laps to go before his involvement in a turn-one melee ended his hopes.

Despite the poor results, however, there's reason for optimism for Legacy. The speed its drivers showed at Indianapolis is promising for a team that has seldom raced inside the top 10 this season.

Jones, 28, and Nemechek, 27, must win to make the Cup Series playoffs, but for Legacy — a team with young drivers in its first year with a new manufacturer — the rest of 2024 should be about preparing for the future.

If the team races cars as fast as the ones it had at Indianapolis, Jones or Nemechek could finish in the top 10. Jones has Cup Series wins at Daytona and Darlington, sites of the final two races of the Cup Series regular season.

So don't be surprised if Legacy celebrates soon in victory lane.