“Very fast”: Jimmie Johnson’s former mechanic in awe of Ford’s major breakthrough in Nurburgring

NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson's former mechanic and IMSA pit crew member, Bozi Tatarevic, recently praised Ford's success.

The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD become the first American-made car to complete a lap of Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife in under seven minutes. Factory driver Dirk Müller set an impressive time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds, the fifth fastest by a stock production sports car.

Tatarevic, who worked with the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion at Legacy Motor Club, reacted to Ford's "Road to the Ring" video on X.

"Incredibly cool to see a Mustang GTD be the first American production car to go below the 7 minute mark at the Nürburgring and very impressive to see how their leadership supports sports cars and motorsport in general. 6:57.685 is very fast," Tatarevic wrote.

The Nürburgring or the "Green Hell" is one of the toughest tracks in the world. It is 12.94 miles long with sharp curves and tricky weather conditions. Ford’s run in August with wet weather almost spoiled the attempt but Müller managed three laps and set the record on his first try.

You can watch the 14-minute documentary by Ford below:

The Mustang’s 10-year-old design was upgraded with advanced features, which helped it join top cars like the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series and Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

---

Jimmie Johnson to return to part-time racing in 2025

Jimmie Johnson's Legacy Motor Club had a tough year. The team's two full-time drivers, John Hunter Nemechek (No. 42) and Erik Jones (No. 43) finished at 34th and 28th in the final standings. In 2024, Jones had one top-5 and two top-10 finishes and Nemechek had four top-10 finishes.

Johnson has also driven for the team part-time in the No. 84 car since 2023. However, he has failed to make any top-10 finishes in 13 starts over the past two years in the Next Gen car.

The 49-year-old will return to the No. 84 Toyota, part-time for Legacy Motor Club next year and the team’s new competition director, Jacob Canter, will decide Johnson’s races.

"For 2025, we will make sure we use the [No. 84] car in the right capacity and in the right way so it doesn’t take anything away from the [Nos.] 42 or the 43. We will see how many times Jacob lets me go out and drive,” Johnson said in November (via Jayski).

Legacy Motor Club also made several leadership changes in the past few months. It hired Chad Johnston, as manager of race engineering, Bobby Kennedy as general manager, and Brian Campe as technical director.