Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club’s Controversial Decision Ahead of 2026 Daytona 500

What’s Happening?

NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson’s attempt to win his third Daytona 500 just got a little easier thanks to a recently introduced rule his team will utilize in this season’s edition of the Great American Race.

Jimmie Johnson has guaranteed spot in Daytona 500. Legacy applied for and has been granted the "open exemption provisional" … so Johnson is guaranteed spot and field will be 41 cars. Johnson won't get purse $. Where he starts I'd expect depends on finish in duels. @NASCARONFOX

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 7, 2026

Jimmie Johnson may be retired from full-time racing, but that hasn’t kept the seven-time champion from getting behind the wheel for some occasional starts.

This part-time effort began in 2023, when Johnson purchased a portion of Legacy Motor Club. Since then, the NASCAR Hall of Famer, and now majority owner of the team, has made 14 starts in LMC’s part-time No. 84 car.

The number of races and tracks on his schedule has fluctuated from year to year, though one event has stayed on this schedule since 2023, the Daytona 500.

Johnson, a two-time winner of the event, is coming off a best finish of third in his three post-full-time career starts in the 500, and has already announced plans to race in the 68th Daytona 500 later this year.

This time, however, Johnson will have more time to focus on the main event, as his spot in the Daytona 500 is guaranteed thanks to NASCAR’s Open Exemption Provisional.

The OEP

NASCAR introduced the Open Exemption Provisional last January. The goal of this new provision was to help encourage noteworthy racers, or as NASCAR put it, “world-class” drivers, to attempt a NASCAR race through a guaranteed starting spot.

So, if a team requests a provisional 90 days prior to an event, the driver is guaranteed a spot to race in that weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

But how does NASCAR choose who is eligible?

Well, it is done on a case-by-case basis, with NASCAR citing in the rules bulletin from January 2025 that a driver’s “prior racing resume” is a “significant contributor.” Beyond that, full-time Cup Series drivers are not eligible, though part-timers are.

Last season, NASCAR likely had very little deliberation on deciding whether or not to allow a driver to use an OEP, as the only driver to publicly request an OEP was four-time Indianapolis 500 Champion Hélio Castroneves.

Castroneves made his Daytona 500 debut last year thanks to the OEP, and this year, per a report from Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Jimmie Johnson will be the first NASCAR “regular” to use the OEP in a Cup Series race.

The Controversy

On the surface, the OEP may not seem like a big deal. However, its pros and cons are significant to both the sport and the teams that will utilize it in the years to come.

For NASCAR, they can guarantee a driver like Castroneves a spot in a race. This means international drivers, or full-time drivers in other series, need not worry about wasting their valuable time by attempting a race and not making the race due to an unforeseen circumstance.

For teams, they can guarantee a sponsor in the race, meaning no broken contracts and lost financial support.

Of course, this rule is also controversial, with fans pushing back at the idea of an at times unproven driver getting a shot to race at the sport’s highest level, even if they lack capable skills in a stock car.

For example, last season, Castroneves turned very few competitive laps at Daytona in the Cup Series car, qualifying 39th of 45 entries, wrecking out of his duel race, and wrecking out of the 500 after just turning 70 laps.

Though he didn’t take a spot away from the eight open entries, he did expand the field to 41 cars, the first time this has happened since 2015, without making an impact on race day.

Since this race, NASCAR has even tweaked the rules of the OEP so that if an OEP car qualifies within the top 40, a full field with four or more open cars still expands to 41 cars.

To some fans, this hurts the competitive spirit of NASCAR, though others have pointed to the attention surrounding Castroneves’ attempt as proof of the OEP working to draw attention to the sport.

What Does This Mean For Jimmie?

Johnson will likely not have as controversial a week as Castroneves. In fact, though he has had some close calls, Johnson has yet to fail to qualify for a race in the No. 84.

But that doesn’t mean that, in the event he does win his third Daytona 500, there won’t be a feeling of unease in the Florida air.

While he would get credit for the win in the NASCAR record book, another Harley J Earl Trophy, and his car in Daytona for a year, Johnson would not walk away with the prize money and points associated with this win.

Though these won’t matter to a part-timer like Johnson, who has won his fair share of money in his career, his use of the OEP and a guaranteed starting spot could be viewed as an odd spot in his racing legacy.

No matter how dominant his car may be, nor how he qualifies or wins the race, some fans, and maybe even a few members of the media, may feel inclined to throw an asterisk next to this win thanks to the OEP.

But, these are hypotheticals, and if the No. 84 finds victory lane, the sight of seven-time back at the top of his game would wash away all the drama surrounding the OEP.

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