Legacy adding race shop space as it widens Cup Series footprint

Legacy Motor Club will operate out of a new space beginning next winter as the organization expands to three full-time teams.

A newly built space (not an existing race shop) will be in Mooresville, N.C., and construction is currently underway. Legacy Motor Club will race out of the building beginning in 2028. However, it will be a three-car team starting next year with the addition of Riley Herbst in the No. 84 Toyota.

“From a recruitment standpoint, being in Mooresville is super important,” Legacy co-owner Jimmie Johnson said. “It also shortens my drive by 30-plus minutes, which I’m excited about. Being in that hub is really important. Toyota is very close by; our other Toyota teammates are very close by.

“We’ve spent a lot of time looking out the windshield – all our people do – moving around just to take meetings and interact with their counterparts at different teams and even the league. So, cutting down on windshield time is going to be nice.”

The space is 110,000 square feet, with additional space that Legacy Motor Club can build on if needed. Johnson said it could turn into a three-story building if that was the route chosen.

“We’ll have a second floor with business ops and leadership up there,” Johnson explained. “The bottom floor is a nice, big, generous space where engineering, car chiefs, crew chiefs, and workforce are all right there.”

23XI Racing has shared with Johnson how Airspeed was built, the state-of-the-art facility in Huntersville that opened in 2024. One of the most notable things was the workflow for a race team in the Next Gen era and how the cars are prepared and moved through a shop differently than in previous generations.

Legacy Motor Club is currently based in Statesville, N.C., in what was the GMS Racing facility. It was where the organization started in its first iteration with Richard Petty, then with the addition of Johnson, which led to the rebranding. Gallagher chose to end his ownership role going into 2025, and Johnson is now the majority owner.

The shop is about an hour from Charlotte Motor Speedway and, along with Richard Childress Racing (based in Welcome, N.C.), is one of the Cup Series teams farthest from what is considered the sport's hub. Most race teams are based in Concord, Huntersville and Mooresville.

“We thought about a new building about two years ago, and (23XI Racing) was like, ‘Come in. Let us show you around,’” said Johnson. “Even if they had another shot at it, there are a couple of minor tweaks they would make, and they’ve been kind enough to share about this here or that there, a little more space here.

“Everybody keeps saying storage, so it reminds me of home when you think you have enough space and you’re like, ‘Where do I put this?’ Storage is something we’re preparing for.”