A few more pieces of the 2025 Silly Season fell into place this week with the re-signing of two drivers and the signing of a crew chief.
Cup Series driver Erik Jones is in his fourth season of driving the number 43 car for Legacy Motor Club with owners Richard Petty, Maury Gallagher, and Jimmie Johnson. Jones will be returning next season after signing a multi year extension on his contract.
Legacy Motor Club CEO Cal Wells III spoke on Jones via a team release saying, “Erik Jones has been the consistent cornerstone of Legacy Motor Club’s driver lineup since Maury chose to enter NASCAR’s highly competitive Cup division. He’s a proven champion that, surrounded with the right team powered by Toyota, can and will compete for race wins against the very best on any given Sunday. Having personally known Erik for close to 14 years, I feel blessed he’s chosen to remain with the Club, and I’m looking forward to winning races with him at the helm of the iconic number. 43.”
Co-owner Jimmie Johnson also spoke on Jones saying, “Erik is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR. I’ve had the chance to race against him and have had a chance to watch him drive for other teams and the Club. I admire his talent and am glad we will have him race for us for the upcoming years. Erik will be a key to helping us turn our program around, and we look forward to giving him the tools he needs to go out on Sundays and race for wins and eventually a championship someday.”
The 28 year old Jones added, “I’m looking forward to what we can build at Legacy Motor Club. I’ve been with the number 43 car for a handful of years and feel like I’m coming into some of the best years of my career. I am hoping to grow alongside Legacy MC in the seasons to come.”
Making a return this season to the Xfinity Series full time while running some Cup Series races; AJ Allmendinger has once again decided to make the move back to the Cup Series next season driving the number 16 car for Kaulig Racing.
Rising like a Phoenix out of the ashes, Gene Haas’ Haas Factory Team will be fielding a single team in 2025 with Cole Custer behind the wheel of the number 41 car. The reigning Xfinity Series champion, Custer is currently driving the 00 car for Stewart-Haas Racing which is closing down at the end of the 2024 season.
Haas has named Aaron Kramer as the crew chief for the 41 car. Kramer is currently the lead race engineer at RFK Racing for the number 17 car driven by Chris Buescher.
President for the Haas Factory Team Joe Buescher spoke on Kramer saying, “Aaron’s engineering pedigree and his history with RFK Racing are great assets for Haas Factory Team. We’re proud to have him join our team. NASCAR, and the Cup Series in particular, has become very engineering-driven. Limited track time and the nuances of the Next Gen car have put a premium on simulation and data, and to really maximize all that information, you need people who can apply that information to the car and work closely with the driver to fine-tune the car. Aaron is that person, and we’re confident he can build a team of like-minded people who will have our race team ready to go for 2025.”
Being a part of NASCAR since 2010, Karmer earned a mechanical engineering degree at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2016.
Kramer spoke on coming to HFT saying, “this is a great opportunity and I’m very grateful for it. I’ve been working toward the crew chief position since I was racing go-karts in high school. It’s a proud moment to have it come with Haas Factory Team. Their alliance with RFK makes the learning curve a little less steep because I’m very familiar with the people and processes at RFK.”
He added, “having Cole as the driver is a huge asset. He’s highly motivated and dedicated to his craft. He puts in the time away from the track so that he’s ready every time he climbs into the race car. That’s what you want as a crew chief. We’re going to push each other and support each other to get the best results possible.