LEGACY MOTOR CLUB DRIVERS AND ULTIMATE CANINE LLC JOIN FORCES FOR THE INAUGURAL “BARKYARD 400”
STATESVILLE, N.C. / WESTFIELD, Ind. (July 26, 2025) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver Erik Jones and local Indianapolis company Ultimate Canine LLC brought some puppy love to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Not only did Jones and John Hunter Nemechek attend an activity with the company, but Jones also brought eight puppies into the IMS media center to brighten up everyone’s day on Saturday to help launch the Oscar Jones plush collectible.
Founded by Julie Case, Ultimate Canine has been providing award-winning dog training services since 2012. Offering customized dog training for over 27 years, the facility not only trains well-behaved family dogs but also service dogs and working police K9 dogs. Case was born into a family of dog trainers who trained and competed in Europe and Russia. She began showing and training dogs at the age of 14 before coming to the United States in 2001 and starting her business.
“It was amazing to be able to have the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB drivers not only come out to our new facility in Westfield, but also bring some puppy love to the racetrack,” said Case, CEO and owner of Ultimate Canine. “We’ve been working for over 27 years to train dogs for all sorts of jobs, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to join forces with Erik Jones and the team to spread awareness for his foundation and the Oscar plush.”
The LEGACY MC drivers kicked off the Brickyard 400 weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by heading an hour North to Westfield, Indiana – headquarters of Ultimate Canine on Friday afternoon. After getting a tour of the state-of-the-art facility, Nemechek was paired up with one of their service dogs in training while Jones brought along his sidekick Oscar to participate in the inaugural Barkyard 400.
Both drivers and their canine companion were tasked with running through an obstacle course while they were being timed by Case. The best time would be declared the winner. Not only were they competing against each other, but also one of the eight canine officers that Ultimate Canine had graduating from the facility. The No. 42 team consisted of Nemechek and Tatiana the Golden Retriever. Meanwhile, Jones and Oscar made up the No. 43 team, with a local Indianapolis police officer and his canine Rook rounding out the gang on final team.
In the end, it was Rook who came out on top with Oscar in second, and Tatiana in third. See the full recap from the event HERE.
“We had a great afternoon at Ultimate Canine. It was such an impressive facility, and it was so cool to see all the work they do to train dogs for so many different things,” said Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE for LEGACY MC. “I had a great time at the Barkyard 400 with Tatiana and locked in a third-place finish! She was a little bit of a different personality than the police canines when they put me in the bite suit - I’ve never been more scared than when I had a dog look me in my soul like that and then come at me at full speed. It was such a cool experience at Ultimate Canine and I’m so glad we were able to go out and support them and the Erik Jones Foundation.”
Following the activities on Friday afternoon, Jones and Case headed into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center to talk about their collaboration on social media and announce the launch of Jones’ latest initiative – the Oscar Jones plush. Based on his beloved canine best friend, the Oscar plush will be sold at the trackside NASCAR Classics merch hauler and Jones’ online store. A portion of the proceeds from the plush will benefit the Erik Jones Foundation.
“We’ve talked about the Oscar plush for a few years now, but it’s really cool to see if come to life,” said Jones, driver of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE for LEGACY MC. “It was neat to get Julie (Case, owner) and Ultimate Canine involved. They’re a great group of people who train a ton of dogs for all different jobs. The Oscar plush sales are going to help raise funds to go toward our cause of animal welfare so we can help out groups like Ultimate Canine with their dog training efforts and other areas.”
The Erik Jones Foundation’s animal welfare initiative supports a variety of areas. It gives grants to local shelters or organizations, toward service animal training, and K9 officer training. In total, Jones’ foundation has donated over $40,000 toward this mission.
To learn more about the Erik Jones Foundation and its mission, visit ErikJonesFoundation.org.
To learn more about Ultimate Canine, visit UltimateCanineTraining.com.
