DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 12: Jimmie Johnson 84 Legacy Motor Club Carvana Toyota waves to the crowd prior to the running of the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 Duel 1 on February 12, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 12 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Duels 1 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602122374
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 12: Jimmie Johnson 84 Legacy Motor Club Carvana Toyota waves to the crowd prior to the running of the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 Duel 1 on February 12, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 12 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Duels 1 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2602122374
After winning seven titles with Chevy, Jimmie Johnson turned to Toyota. However, while most teams would jump at a chance to partner with JGR, Johnson didn't take the $8 million decision.
Speaking on Stacking Pennies, Johnson broke down what the $8 million package comes with: “They have full transparency, essentially a car build as well. If you think of the days of Furniture Row Racing, very similar situation to that. We looked at that number and felt that we can do our own. It’ll take a few years.”
Johnson mentioned Furniture Row Racing because the team stopped competing in 2018 despite winning the 2017 championship with Martin Truex Jr. Part of the reason was the increasing costs due to Joe Gibbs Racing because of a similar tie-up that Johnson avoided. Furniture Row started off on a $3 million a year which turned into almost $10 million a year, proving unfeasible.
Johnson did say that while the tie-up was something they could avoid, there was still a need to build partnerships. “As time has gone on and the good faith we have shown, we’ve been able to now be in partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing on the aero side.”
He added, “So Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing, Legacy, all partners on the aero program. We thought that it’d be like flipping a switch and be in great shape. As we go to dig in, there are many layers of the build process of the car, including how you measure all these aero numbers.”
Johnson is prioritizing long-term stability despite the immediate technical hurdles of remaining independent.
Johnson on the Difficulties of Being Independent
Johnson explained, “Our simulation, our simulator, our software tool chain, we’re building all of that right now. We chose a different path and to not pay the premium to be an alliance to Joe Gibbs Racing.”
The 7-time Cup champion added, “We have the data, but what do we put the data into? How do you know if it’s correlated correctly? And so the many layers that we’re trying to put together and build.”
But Johnson and team LMC seem to be on the correct direction, willing to fully commit by adding a third car to the team. Johnson believes that having more cars now will help streamline and fast-track the process of building a competitive unit with more data to understand at any time.
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Written by
Debrup Chaudhuri
Edited by
Siddharth Shirwadkar