Legacy Motor Club, owned by Jimmie Johnson, has parted ways with crew chief Jason Burdette. The move tops a list of several personnel adjustments the team made before the Olympic break while Johnson was coming off a lackluster season. The club plans to announce a new crew chief for the part-time #84 team at a later date.
This season, the seven-time Cup Series champion’s #84 team has recorded two 28th-place finishes in six starts. Johnson has had a tough year, retiring twice due to accidents at Kansas Speedway and most recently at the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 84 team’s average finishing position was 30.8. However, despite the crew chief change, Jimmie Johnson will complete his nine-race assignment by competing in the season finale at Kansas on September 29, Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20, and Phoenix Raceway on November 10.
John Newby, a senior writer for Savage Ventures, announced the news that Legacy Motor Club is parting ways with Jason Burdett on social media.
“A spokesperson for Legacy Motor Club confirmed today that due to other personnel changes, crew chief Jason Burdett is no longer with the organization. Jimmie Johnson’s schedule will remain the same,” Newby wrote on x.
Jason Burdett will join Jimmie Johnson’s team in December 2023. He previously worked for Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports. During his tenure, he supervised the pit box for 293 Xfinity Series races and worked with three drivers. While 48-year-old Johnson has maintained a part-time racing schedule, Burdett held a full-time position. Burdett started his crew chief career in 2015, leading Regan Smith to two victories, 11 top-five finishes, and 26 top-10 placements across 33 races, finishing fourth in the championship standings.
He spent 2016 to 2022 as Justin Allgaier’s crew chief, during which Allgaier consistently performed well, never placing below seventh in the standings, reaching the Championship five times, and securing a career-high second place in 2020.
Jimmie Johnson is experiencing the pressures of team ownership head-on
With 83 NASCAR Cup victories, seven championships, and 12 ‘crown jewel’ race wins over 19 full-time seasons, the transition to team ownership hasn’t been smooth sailing for Johnson. Regarding his new role, he said [via Indystar]:
“I didn’t think it would be this hard. It’s a tough sport, but we have a great vision and we’re committed to that long-term vision and we’re on track. We want to race, but we don’t want the third car to hurt the other two. The revenue we generate helps us develop new talent with the third car and develop new setup ideas, but if you’re doing nine races, you need a pretty strong crew to drive that car, and it’s inefficient to only do nine races.”
Furthermore, Jimmie Johnson expressed nostalgia for his IndyCar days, saying he wished he’d quit full-time NASCAR racing sooner. “I really miss it. “I feel like I should have made the switch a few years earlier. I’ve always believed you need five years. Five years is the optimum period to really understand a particular vehicle,” he added.
