{"id":393965,"date":"2026-01-07T13:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393965\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T13:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:33:08","slug":"legacy-motor-club-makes-crew-chief-change-for-erik-jones-ahead-of-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/393965\/","title":{"rendered":"Legacy Motor Club Makes Crew Chief Change for Erik Jones Ahead of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1461432656-e1676747108983.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Erik Jones\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Erik Jones poses during NASCAR Production Days.<\/p>\n<p>Legacy Motor Club confirmed a series of competition and executive changes as the organization prepares for the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/ryan-blaney-kyle-larson-2025-cup-series-championship\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> season.<\/p>\n<p>According to an official release published by Legacy Motor Club, veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LEGACYMotorClub\/status\/2008238622781083787?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">crew chief<\/a> Justin Alexander will take over leadership of the team\u2019s No. 43 Cup Series program with Erik Jones continuing as the driver.<\/p>\n<p>Ben Beshore will move out of the crew chief role and into a new position as Director of Race Engineering. The team also announced a front-office change, naming Scott Roggenbauer as Chief Operating Officer. The restructuring follows improved results during the 2025 season and reflects the organization\u2019s ongoing effort to strengthen performance across its entire operation.<\/p>\n<p>Justin Alexander Takes Over No. 43 Pit Box Duties at Legacy Motor Club<\/p>\n<p>Legacy Motor Club stated that Justin Alexander will assume crew chief responsibilities for Erik Jones beginning immediately. Alexander replaces Ben Beshore, who guided the No. 43 team through the end of the 2025 season. Together, Jones and Beshore recorded four top-five finishes and five top-10 results, marking one of the team\u2019s most productive seasons since its rebrand.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander previously worked with Jimmie Johnson early in his career, first as a shock specialist and later as a lead engineer starting in 2005. Legacy Motor Club noted that this background gives Alexander a strong understanding of both engineering and race-day decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>Team co-owner Jimmie Johnson addressed the change in the release. \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to evolve and refine every part of our race program, and Justin is a tremendous addition to our crew chief lineup, <a href=\"https:\/\/legacymotorclub.com\/news\/2026-strategic-changes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Johnson said<\/a>. His experience, communication style, and leadership align perfectly with the direction we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben Beshore Shifts Focus to Race Engineering<\/p>\n<p>Ben Beshore will transition into the role of Director of Race Engineering after more than two decades in the racing industry. According to the team, the move allows Beshore to oversee performance development across Legacy Motor Club\u2019s multi-car operation rather than focusing on a single entry.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2025 season, Beshore worked closely with Erik Jones and helped stabilize the No. 43 program. The team credited that pairing with producing consistent top-10 speed and measurable gains compared to prior seasons.<\/p>\n<p>In his new role, Beshore will support engineering efforts across the organization, including full-time and part-time entries. Legacy Motor Club believes the change will improve communication and alignment between race teams and technical departments.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Executive Officer Cal Wells III explained the broader impact of the move. \u201cJustin is a proven race winner, and we believe there\u2019s the potential for a strong chemistry with Erik, <a href=\"https:\/\/legacymotorclub.com\/news\/2026-strategic-changes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Wells said<\/a>. We\u2019ll also have Ben raising all ships with the performance engineering group. With all these changes, we\u2019re hoping to continue the growth we saw in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson also acknowledged Beshore\u2019s continued role with the team. \u201cWe appreciate Ben\u2019s hard work and look forward to his continued contributions as he transitions into his new role, he said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Executive Promotion and 2026 Season Outlook<\/p>\n<p>Legacy Motor Club also announced that Scott Roggenbauer will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer. Roggenbauer previously served as the organization\u2019s Chief Financial Officer after joining the team in 2025. Before that, he held executive positions with Haas F1 and ABC Technologies.<\/p>\n<p>According to the release, the leadership changes align with the team\u2019s long-term planning for the 2026 season. NASCAR\u2019s new season will begin with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 1. FOX, MRN, and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/denny-hamlin-addresses-nascar-media-after-antitrust-settlement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SiriusXM NASCAR Radio<\/a> will carry the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>Legacy Motor Club stated that the updated structure positions the organization for continued development as it heads into the new season<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a sports writer who covers NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. With bylines at Total Apex Sports and Last Word on Sports, Wilberforce has built a reputation for delivering timely, engaging coverage that blends sharp analysis with accessible storytelling. Wilberforce has covered everything from major football transfers to fight-night drama, bringing readers the insight and context behind the headlines. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on NASCAR\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Erik Jones poses during NASCAR Production Days. Legacy Motor Club confirmed a series of competition and executive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-393965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}