CONCORD, N.C. — Legacy Motor Club has moved through the season with the theme of putting pieces in place for future success at all styles of race tracks. The steps include working with a championship-winning sports car driver.
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Jack Hawksworth, a Lexus Factory Driver for Vasser Sullivan, has worked alongside Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek this season while helping them become better competitors on tracks with left and right turns.
"Our road course program has frankly been pretty weak at our company for the last few years," Jones said in response to a question from FanBuzz at the Charlotte Roval.
"So just trying to get better, trying to get the cars better, get us better. Obviously, Jack has a ton of road course experience."
How much can Jones and Nemechek learn from Hawksworth, who has been with Lexus Racing since its inception? It's not like his Lexus RCF GT3 race car bears a ton of similarities to the Gen 7 Cup Series car.
As it turns out, the United Kingdom native can provide more guidance than some might think. He actually has experience in a Cup Series car while taking part in some tests.
Photo credit: Lexus Racing
"Obviously, Jack has a ton of road course experience," Jones added. "He has drove the Cup car at some tests and so we had him up (at Legacy MC) on Wednesday going over some stuff with him."
The championship-winning Lexus Factory driver has not been present for every road course this season, but he had a presence as Legacy MC's drivers prepared for Mexico City and the Charlotte Roval, in particular.
This opportunity to sit down with Hawksworth is crucial for Jones, who grew up on short tracks instead of on road courses. This discipline is not natural for him, so he has to put in extra effort to contend with other Cup Series drivers.
He has to ask as many questions as possible to figure out exactly why Hawksworth is approaching some of the corners in a particular way. Jones knows the courses after dozens of starts, but he wants to learn more about the technique involved.
"A lot of my questions are kind of centered around why he's doing certain things, because I'm just not a road course guy by nature," Jones said. "So, he does things a little bit different sometimes, and I'm curious as to why and figuring those parts and pieces out.
"I felt like this year, Watkins Glen was when things kind of finally started to click for me in the Next Gen car a little bit on the road courses and what it wanted and needed. And a lot of that was from Jack and what we've kind of went through this year."
Jones has 36 road course starts and three street course starts in his Cup career. He has nine top-10 finishes and three top-fives. His best finish is third at the Roval in 2020. His best finish on a road course this season is 12th at Watkins Glen.
Hawksworth began his racing career winning karting championships. He then moved on to the Formula Renault Winter Series, where he defeated future Formula 1 champions.
His career continued with a move to open wheel series in the United States, where he stockpiled more wins and titles. He even broke the record for the most Star Mazda Series wins in a single season (eight).
While Hawksworth initially competed in Indy Lights — now Indy NXT — and the NTT IndyCar Series, he ultimately moved over to the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in 2017.
He has capitalized on his opportunity by winning 11 races and the 2023 IMSA GTD Pro title alongside driver Ben Barnicoat. Hawksworth's achievements include Vasser Sullivan's first 12 Hours of Sebring victory.
This experience and success is what Legacy Motor Club wants to tap into as Nemechek and Jones both build up their skillset for the 2026 season and beyond.
