Jimmie Johnson becomes majority owner of Legacy Motor Club

A bit of a shakeup at Legacy Motor Club. Jimmie Johnson is now the majority owner with Knighthead Capital coming in as a new minority owner. Maury Gallagher will step back from day-to-day operations and become an ambassador for the NASCAR team.

This is the latest example of a NASCAR team taking on investment from a capital firm. Joe Gibbs Racing has investment from Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, for example.

Knighthead Capital Management is an investor in multiple ventures. They do have prior experience in sports. They have invested in businesses and teams such as HERTZ, JOTA Racing, Birmingham City Football Club, and more.

Legacy Motor Club and Jimmie Johnson have been heavy on the announcements. Hiring c-suite execs, competition leaders, and even a slight font rebranding – but the results on the track have only gone down recently.

Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek have talent. We know that they do. We have seen what they have done in other cars and other series. A little extra investment and money can’t hurt though, can it?

The Cup Series is crowded with talent and growing organizations. Legacy Motor Club has to try their best to stand out among the crowd. Maybe they have the best executives and investors, but that doesn’t win races. Cars and drivers do.

Jimmie Johnson becomes majority owner

Since becoming a part-owner in Legacy Motor Club, Jimmie Johnson has made it his own. Petty-GMS is long gone. Both Richard Petty and Maury Gallagher are now in ambassador roles for the organization.

Johnson is still a popular figure in the sport. Even though his best driving days are behind him, he still shows up to the track a few times a year to compete. As majority owner, things now fall almost entirely on his shoulders.

A lot of team owners have come in and injected a ton of money into an organization with not much to show for it. Legacy Motor Club is far from where they want to be. Then again, in a sport with only 16 playoff spots available, not everyone can sit at the table.

Jimmie Johnson has changed this team every season he has been part of it. He is going to have to get results on track to match all of these investments off track.