It would be fair to say that Legacy Motor Club would have a lot of new faces for the 2027 season. The only exception would be Erik Jones and the No. 43 team. Given the scale at which LMC has expanded, they are bringing in new talents like Josh Berry and Riley Herbst. But the drivers only make up half of the team. An organization needs to secure the engineers, mechanics, pit crew, and, most importantly, crew chiefs. Unfortunately, the No. 42 team is already breaking into pieces even before the end of 2026.

Legacy Motor Club stunned everyone when it announced that John Hunter Nemechek would not return to drive the No. 42 car. His contract was renewed for him to run the 2027 season in the same colors, but the organization had a different plan. But with eight races still left in the 2026 campaign, the No. 42 team suffered a big blow with the departure of Travis Mack.

Mack announced his split from the team on X. “I wanted to share that I will no longer be serving as the crew chief of the No. 42 for the remainder of the season… I’ve enjoyed working with John Hunter, and I’m proud of the things we were able to accomplish together.”

Mack and Nemechek were paired together in November 2024 to build Legacy Motor Club’s new era from scratch. At the time, Mack was very optimistic about their potential, stating, “I’m looking forward to helping Legacy Motor Club build something great… I worked with Jimmie at Hendrick Motorsports, and I know his work ethic and determination – so his vision for the Club is really exciting, and I’m ready to get to work.”

The two showed potential immediately. They opened the 2025 season at Daytona 500 with a career-best fifth-place finish for Nemechek and later followed it up with a top-10 finish at Atlanta. They even showed their strategic brilliance at Pocono earlier this season.

During the race, Mack engineered a brilliant pit strategy that helped Nemechek to lead most of the race and secure a P4 finish. However, outside of those few good results, it has been a brutal grind.

They missed the Chase and haven’t found their consistency or momentum so far. At the same time, Josh Berry, who was in a similar position, had a streak of top-10 runs, which attracted attention from the LMC camp.

But it seems like LMC was prepared for this drastic change within the team, and they’ve already found Mack’s replacement. Chais Eliason is being promoted to the role of crew chief and will take over the reins of the No. 42 team. This could be a long-term move as well, with Berry hopping into the No. 42 car in 2027.

Eliason has worked as the strategy manager and senior performance engineer for Legacy Motor Club this past year, but his NASCAR resume is strong. He started as a Hendrick Motorsports intern in 2012, helped engineer Jimmie Johnson’s 2016 Cup Series championship and Kyle Larson’s 2021 title run.

Eliason also worked as the interim crew chief for Shane van Gisbergen at Kansas in 2025 and guided SVG to his first career oval top-10. Getting the promotion with eight races left in the season could give Eliason the head start he needs for Berry’s arrival in 2027.

Team co-owner Jimmie Johnson all but confirmed Elaison’s involvement beyond 2026.

“Promoting from within and giving our people the opportunity to grow is central to how we’re building Legacy. Chais has shown throughout this season that he’s ready for this. We’re looking forward to seeing what he and the No. 42 team can accomplish over these final eight races and into 2027.”

Johnson also thanked Travis Mack for his time at LMC. “We’re thankful to Travis for his many contributions to Legacy and the No. 42 team. He has played a pivotal role in this organization and helped the CLUB during an important period of growth. We appreciate the foundation for excellence that he has helped build at Legacy and wish him continued success in his next endeavor.”

As things stand, both John Hunter Nemechek and Travis Mack are looking for new opportunities following this shake-up at LMC and the No. 42 team.

What’s next for John Hunter Nemechek?

The rosters for the 2027 Cup Series teams are almost locked. And finding an open car would be extremely difficult at this point. The ideal scenario for Nemechek is to drop down to either the O’Reilly or Truck Series and build his base back up.

He has 11 wins in the O’Reilly Series and 13 in Trucks, so he knows how to win races in the lower divisions of NASCAR. He can attract potential suitors if he manages to replicate his 2023 form. Back then, Nemechek drove the No. 20 Toyota and bagged six wins that season.

“I want to go win. I want to go perform the best that I can the last nine weeks. It doesn’t matter what is happening behind the scenes or whatever it may be; I’m here to race, I’m here to do my job. I’m going to show up the best that I can prepare, and to prove the decision-makers wrong,” Nemechek said after his departure from LMC.

It will be interesting to see if JHN remains within the Toyota camp or opts for a new opportunity with Ford or Chevy teams.