LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, which recently announced the addition of famed singer/songwriter Darius Rucker as a co-owner, announced another impactful addition to the leadership of its organization on Wednesday.
Michael Guttilla, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Joe Gibbs Racing, has been named the team’s new CLUB President. In addition to his experience as COO at JGR, Guttilla has an engineering background, as he spent more than 20 years with Multimatic.
Having the dual knowledge of the business and engineering sides of motorsport has made seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson optimistic about the acquisition of Guttilla.
“Michael’s leadership and technical expertise will be a tremendous asset as we continue building the future of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB,” said Johnson, owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, in a team press release. “He understands both the competitive and business sides of this sport, and we’re excited to welcome him to the CLUB.”
Cal Wells III, CEO of LMC, echoes the sentiment shared by Johnson.
“Michael has spent his career building world-class engineering organizations and delivering performance at the highest levels of motorsports and automotive innovation,” Wells said. “His ability to connect technical excellence with team leadership makes him an outstanding fit for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB as we continue strengthening our competitive foundation and building for the future.”
According to the press release from LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, Joe Gibbs Racing team principals worked collaboratively with the ownership group of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to facilitate the move of Guttilla from JGR to LMC. The support of JGR to pursue the new role with LMC left Guttilla thankful.
“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with leaders and mentors who invested their time, knowledge and trust in me,” Guttilla said. “Coach Gibbs and the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization are the most recent example of that support, and before that, the founder and teammates at Multimatic. I’m honored by the opportunity to bring those experiences to the incredible team Jimmie and Cal have built and to help execute and accelerate Jimmie’s mission, vision, and values for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.”
Coach Joe Gibbs offered his gratitude to what Guttilla accomplished in his time at JGR, and expressed relief that Guttilla will remain with a Toyota-aligned team going forward.
“We really appreciate Michael’s guidance and leadership over the past few years,” said Gibbs, owner and founder of Joe Gibbs Racing. “We are happy that he will be able to continue to contribute to the Toyota family in his new position.”
Toyota Racing is also bullish on LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s acquisition of Guttilla, as it keeps an integral component of the Toyota Racing family in-house and positions LMC to take a step forward.
“The addition of Michael Guttilla is another example of LEGACY investing in and building the kind of organization needed to compete with the top teams in NASCAR,” said Tyler Gibbs, president of Toyota Racing Development (TRD), U.S.A. “Michael will be a strong complement to Cal and the entire LEGACY team. I want to thank Coach and JGR for allowing Michael and LEGACY to pursue this opportunity. This move only highlights the collaborative nature our partner teams continue to exhibit, which reinforces one of Toyota’s key values in motorsport.”
Guttilla will report to Wells in his new role with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, and he began officially working with the team on April 8.
