Legacy Motor Club had a two-year contract with Noah Gragson, but after Gragson was suspended by NASCAR in August for liking an inappropriate meme on social media, Legacy co-owner Jimmie Johnson told AP that Gragson shocked the team by asking for his release.
“He 100% resigned and it surprised us because that was not what we anticipated,” Johnson told AP. “I‘ve stayed in contact with Noah and speak to him pretty regularly, a couple of times a week. He‘s on the path to NASCAR‘s reinstatement process and he‘s working on himself and I think he‘s really found some good personal growth. He and his family shared with us that he wanted to step away and that‘s what he‘s done.”
It left Legacy looking for a teammate for Erik Jones — Johnson plans to run about 10 NASCAR races next season — and even with the upcoming move to Toyota the team didn‘t think Nemechek was a possibility.
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Johnson relocated last month to the United Kingdom with his wife and enrolled his two daughters in school overseas. It is a temporary move the Johnson family had long been considering.
In the UK, the seven-time NASCAR champion is surrounded by good friends Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, who have regularly made the commute to the United States for their racing careers. It is also a way the Johnson family can begin to heal following a family tragedy in June. Authorities said they believed Johnson‘s mother-in-law killed her husband and grandson before committing suicide.
See much more at the Associated Press.
