Current 23XI driver Riley Herbst is set to join Legacy Motor Club for the 2027 NASCAR season, giving Legacy a third full-time car in the Cup Series. It’s a big move for Legacy, but as team co-owner Jimmie Johnson explained this week, it was the right time to make a move.
According to Johnson, running on a partial schedule was doing more harm than good in some cases.
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“Running the third car on the limited schedule, we had ambitions to run it more often,” Johnson said, appearing alongside Herbst as a guest on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “When I got started with Legacy, I think I ran nine races the first year, and it just took too much away. We really felt like we could use that to develop talent, maybe bring in some senior-level individuals to then start building towards the third charter, but honestly it just took too much away.”
With the third-car now a consistent part of the team, rather than a thrown on extra a few weeks a year, there’s greater opportunity to use it to its full potential. It also is a necessary step for Legacy to get where it wants to be as a premier team in the sport.
“When you look at scales of economy, when you look at the ability to collect data and to develop your race cars, you need the maximum amount of cars,” Johnson said. “For us, and where we want to be in five years — an elite team, racing for championships — it’s just that next step. It does mean that we’ll need a new facility. It does mean that we’re going to go from 150ish people to 200 people. We’re in that whole ramp-up phase right now.”
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The expansion is already underway, and Johnson noted that the team has already brought in more investors that will hopefully cascade forward into more success for the team.
Herbst will be in the No. 84 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy, and will join the Nos. 42 and 43 on the track. Those cars are currently driven by John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones respectively, but Nemechek is set to part ways with Legacy at the conclusion of the 2026 season, with Josh Berry currently viewed as the leading candidate to take over the seat.
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