Legacy Motor Club is expanding and going back to Jimmie Johnson’s roots a bit. LMC is fielding a tea min Extreme E. The offroad racing series is entering its fourth season and has added one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time to its ranks.
Jimmie Johnson will not get to race in the season opener in Saudi Arabia this year due to his Daytona 500 entry. However, he will be joining the series after round two. In the meantime, Travis Pastrana and Gray Leadbetter are set to drive the Legacy entry.
The folks at Legacy are excited. Johnson got his start in racing doing offroad motorcycle and truck races. Seeing teams like Legacy and Trackhouse expand into global racing series is awesome.
Hopefully, it will bring more eyes to NASCAR from across the world.
“The opportunity for LEGACY M.C. to field an off-road vehicle in the Extreme E championship is exciting in many ways,” Johnson said in a press release. “We are essentially representing America in this unique and very competitive series and we are committed to the challenge. I’m excited to watch our LEGACY MOTOR CLUB colors race on foreign soil for the first time while I’m in Daytona for the Great American race. I know Travis and Gray will represent us well and I can’t wait to see what they accomplish.”
Gray Leadbetter, 19 years old, is a driver from North Carolina. She is the first woman to win a US Pro Class Championship in the Championship Off-Road closed-course series. Of course, Travis Pastrana needs no introduction for racing fans.
Jimmie Johnson going electric and international
This is a major deal for Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club. It is a return to Johnson’s roots in the offroad world, but completely new. Electric and hydrogen engines look to be the future. 2025 is a big year of change that will see hydrogen racing in Extreme E.
“Our goal is to learn as much as we can and see what the future might bring,” Johnson said. “The fact this series competes globally and focuses on sustainably, inclusion, and equality really piques our interest. From a technical standpoint, the changeover to hydrogen in 2025 is really intriguing and the entire motorsports community is watching closely. Personally for me as a driver, going back to my off-road roots and to the type of racing I started my career with is going to be a blast.”
The founder and CEO of Extreme E, Alejandro Agag is very excited to see Johnson and his team enter the series. It gives them credibility to have drivers like Seven-Time and Pastrana in their races.
“It is fantastic for Extreme E to welcome Jimmie Johnson and LEGACY M.C. to the championship. Jimmie’s credentials speak for themselves, and we cannot wait to see him behind the wheel of the ODYSSEY 21.
“Jimmie is a proven winner and adds to our already healthy list of champions competing in the series. Racing in Extreme E with his own team is something which excited him, and it is great that Jimmie is also looking towards the future and our transition to Extreme H – the world’s first off-road hydrogen-powered racing series – next year.”
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