LOUDON, N.H.: At this point, they could call Justin Haley “Rain Man”—given that precipitation has been presence in most of his highlight moments in NASCAR racing.
But when the rain stopped in Sunday’s USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Haley’s fall from fifth place to 29th was precipitous.
When Haley announced his decision to move from Kaulig Racing to Rick Ware Racing for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, many observers looked askance at the decision.
But throughout the first half of the current campaign, Haley has doggedly begun to prove his choice was the right one.
Haley was poised for his best result of the season so far—a fifth-place effort born of hard driving and opportune pit strategy. The driver of the No. 51 Ford had worked his way into the top five when rain halted the race after 219 laps with Tyler Reddick in the lead.
When it seemed unlikely the race would resume, Haley was pleased with his performance.
“Obviously, it feels good,” Haley said. “I’m proud of everyone at Rick Ware Racing with what we’ve been able to accomplish. We’ve been fast this little bit.
“Yeah, proud of everyone. It’s cool to come out here and drive fast race cars, and (I’m) super thankful for (owners) Rick and Lisa Ware to showcase my abilities.”
When the race resumed on wet tires with 82 laps left in regulation and then went to overtime—with Christopher Bell completing a weekend sweep—Haley held his own until the closing laps buy faded near the end in the chaos that ensued.
Nevertheless, in his previous five races, Haley notched ninth-place finishes at Darlington and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, both indicative of the progress his team is making.
“It just took a second—new team, new organization, new crew chief (Chris Lawson), new manufacturer (Ford), a lot of new things,” Haley said. “We’re just kind of running how I think we should run, definitely a little better at this point, but I think we’re capable of it.
“It’s a fast race car. Fast race cars go fast, and I’m lucky enough to be the driver of it.”
A succession of cautions in the final stage helped Haley gain work his way up to fifth.
“We were decent of restarts,” Haley acknowledged. “I think we were 12th there, and then we just kind of picked them off one by one on restarts, and here we are.”
Driving for Spire Motorsports in 2019, Haley scored his only Cup victory in the rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Last year, while with Kaulig, he earned a second-place finish in wet conditions in the Chicago Street Race.
Haley is eager to return to Chicago—preferably in better weather.
“Hopefully, it’s a little more dry this year,” Haley said. “I went through too many socks last year… Hopefully, we can have a good race car again this year and do one spot better.
“Each week, we’re proving that we’re capable, and we can do it. We’re the smallest organization in the Cup field. We have practically no data. So we just do as much as we can and try to race it out.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
