Today, Legacy Motor Club announced that Jimmie Johnson has been granted the Open Exemption Provisional for the Daytona 500. That means that Johnson will have an automatic starting spot in the race, and the overall field will now go from 40 to 41 cars.
With the OEP secured, Jimmie Johnson’s Daytona 500 weekend just got a lot simpler. Make it through the Duels without damaging the car and take your spot in the Great American Race. Seems pretty simple.
Legacy Motor Club will have three cars once again at Daytona. It remains to be seen if Johnson competes in other races this year besides Daytona and the San Diego Street Race. But it will be nice to see Seven-Time back again. Last year, he finished P3, his best Next Gen finish by far.
Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports reported the news. The No. 84 team will not be eligible for purse money since they have taken the provisional.
Legacy Motor Club actually has three charters. However, with litigation ongoing last year with Rick Ware Racing, the organization was not prepared to expand this season. Instead, they are leasing the charter once again to RFK Racing, who used that old RWR charter to put Ryan Preece in the No. 60 Ford.
In the very near future, Legacy is going to expand. Who they end up landing on to fill in a third full-time car remains to be seen, but there are options out there.
Jimmie Johnson racing a few times each season is not only good for Legacy but also for NASCAR. He’s still a legend, even if his results in the Next Gen car aren’t as great as he would hope. Still, there is a different air at the track when Superman shows up to race.
With Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek, Johnson will have teammates to work with at Daytona. At the end of last season, Jones and Nemechek showed great improvement, and Legacy started to find the speed they’ve been looking for. Will that continue in the early part of the 2026 season?
Motorsports News Daily 
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