"Man, my palms were sweating" - Jimmie Johnson delivers verdict after a 'wild' Atlanta race for Legacy Motor Club drivers

NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson shared his reaction to Cup race results for his team, Legacy Motor Club (LMC) after the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta.

On Sunday, Feb. 23, John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 Toyota finished 10th and earned his second top-10 finish in a row after coming in fifth at the Daytona 500. Meanwhile, Erik Jones ended up in 31st place after his No. 43 car hit the inside wall at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jones had a 12th place in the season-opening race at Daytona.

Johnson, who took over as the majority owner of LMC in January, reacted on X and wrote:

"Man, my palms were sweating watching that in-car. @JHNemechek ran a smart race, and I hate @Erik_Jones had his issue, he would’ve been right there with him. Wild one tonight!"

Last year, Jones and Nemechek only had six top-10 finishes combined and the team often found itself at the back of the final points standings, at 35th and 39th respectively.

LMC switched to Toyota last season and also made big changes during the second half of the season. They brought in Jacob Canter as director of competition, Brian Campe as technical director, and Chad Johnston as race engineering manager.

Last month, the team announced that Jimmie Johnson would take over from founder Maury Gallagher and partner with New York-based investment firm Knighthead Capital.

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"I try to build a broad business" - Jimmie Johnson on expanding to off-track activities

Jimmie Johnson started a podcast with ESPN’s Marty Smith. The podcast, 'Never Settle' debuted earlier this month and airs weekly on SiriusXM and other platforms. The podcast covers NASCAR, life, music, and lessons the hosts have learned in their careers.

"It’s crazy that this podcast has finally come to life. Marty and I have known each other for 20-plus years and he is one of the all-time best storytellers out there. He’s also hilarious and the two of us have had a lot of fun together throughout the years," Johnson said in a statement.

"I think the media landscape is quite interesting and there are other opportunities within that and as I try to build a broad business that just doesn’t solely rely on on-track activity, the more ‘off-paint’ opportunities we have the other business shoots that we can create from Legacy I think the stronger will be as a company," he said (via Forbes).

Jimmie Johnson had earlier talked about expanding Legacy Motor Club into other racing series. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who retired from full-time racing in 2020, also had his best finish in the No. 84 car at third place in the Daytona 500.