Jimmie Johnson: Manufacturers Create “Difficult Environment” for New Drivers

What’s Happening?

As Legacy Motor Club’s search for its third driver for the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season continues, team owner Jimmie Johnson recently opened up about one of the key challenges facing the team in its driver search.

📈 "Without question – we will have a third car on the grid next year."@JimmieJohnson speaks on the expansion of @LEGACYMotorClub for 2027 and which drivers they're possibly targeting for the new seat.

More with the 7X champ and @NASCARHall of Famer → https://t.co/MKhd9eLpQA pic.twitter.com/e147A4QQss

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) March 12, 2026

One of the biggest stories of the already blooming 2027 NASCAR Silly Season is Legacy Motor Club’s expansion to a third full-time NASCAR Cup Series entry.

The team, owned in majority by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson, is set to acquire a third charter at year’s end from Rick Ware Racing, as a result of a settlement from a 2025 lawsuit.

Though this is another major step on the team’s path to competitive growth (a path that has included a recent technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing), several challenges will arise from this expansion.

Aside from the necessary staffing and expanded overall effort from LMC needed to field a third full-time car, the team, of course, must also find a new driver to add to its lineup.

A “Difficult Environment”

While it might seem like an easy task for LMC, as any young up-and-coming driver would love to get a spot in the Cup Series garage, the team has to find a driver who is both deserving of a top ride and able to sign with the team as a free agent.

For example, during a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, team owner Jimmie Johnson said that the difficulties created by the latter of these two criteria have come as a surprise to him.

Johnson, who retired from full-time racing after the 2020 season, only to return as a part-time driver and owner of Legacy Motor Club in 2023, says that the team is still committed to running a full-time third entry in 2026.

But the former stadium truck driver turned Hendrick Motorsports golden boy also mentioned that the way the driver market operates has changed since his days as a full-time competitor, as teams now have to work through “layers” to even have permission to sign a driver to their team.

“It is a very complex driver market, and since I have left as a driver, I am really surprised that there are now really two major layers that a team has to work through to have permission to hire a driver,” Johnson said.

While Johnson did not dig into the fine points of these layers, he did note that the aggressive, long-term contracts that manufacturers sign with developmental drivers are a surprise to him.

“Of course, drivers have a contract with an organization,” Johnson said. “But what’s been surprising to me is how in-depth these manufacturer contracts are, and how young they’ve gone.”

The seven-time Cup Series champion then used 13-year-old driver Keelan Harvick, the son of former series champion Kevin Harvick, who recently signed a long-term development deal with Toyota, as an example of these contracts.

Overall, Johnson says that these factors, such as manufacturer contracts, have created a driver market that is much more difficult to navigate than it was during his driving career. But, despite these challenges, LMC is still working through its options for 2027.

“It is a much more difficult environment than I left as a driver. And we are now in that phase of trying to find who that individual will be, and we’ll keep a close eye on the driver market.” — Jimmie Johnson

The LMC Rumor Mill

Given Johnson’s comments about manufacturer contracts, some names that have recently popped up on the NASCAR rumor mill as potential LMC drivers should come as no surprise.

This rumored list includes current 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst, who is on a contract year in his second season at the Toyota team, which could move on from Herbst with star prospect Corey Heim looking to make the jump to full-time action in 2027.

Another name that recently hit the online rumor mill is former Wood Brothers Racing driver and 2024 Daytona summer winner, Harrison Burton.

Burton, a second-generation NASCAR driver, took a step down to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series last season. This year, he remains in the OAP Series, but has returned to the Toyota camp with Sam Hunt Racing.

Adding fuel to this rumor mill fire, NASCAR fans recently found out that Burton also serves as the reserve driver for the Legacy Motor Club, showing an existing relationship between the two.

Of course, the rumored list is not exclusive to Toyota drivers, as rumors dating back to 2025 have hinted that Richard Childress Racing prospect Jesse Love could be in contention for this rumored third spot.

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