Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Justin Haley

  • Driver Analysis: Justin Haley

    Driver Analysis: Justin Haley

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season was a good one for Justin Haley who made all but two starts in the series. Prior to the ’17 season, he had only made six career starts driving the No. 32 Great Clips truck for Todd Braun in 2015 and 2016. His best finish in those years was seventh in 2015 at Phoenix. However, he upped that best career finish this year driving the No. 24 for Maury Gallagher’s GMS Racing Team.

    Haley’s 2017 season did not start until the third race of the year at Martinsville and it was a rough one for the young 18-year-old. He started 24th but wound up finishing 26th, four laps down. A week later at Kansas, Haley finished ninth after starting 12th. With the exception of Charlotte, he continued to have consistent finishes inside the top 10, scoring the best finish of his career with a third at Kentucky. Haley finished inside the top 10 from Dover all the way until Bristol, where he finished 11th.

    Haley’s moment to shine in the 2017 season came at Fort Worth, where he claimed his first ever pole position. He stayed strong in the race by finishing fifth.

    “It’s really encouraging to see how far this team has come in just the last few races.,” Haley said. “We’re showing a lot of speed late in the season and that just proves how hard these guys work day in and day out. This was such an up and down race, but we overcame the adversity, learned a lot and got a top-five finish out of it. We’ll take this momentum into Phoenix and Miami, and finish the year out strong.”

    In the final two races, he would finish 14th at Phoenix (crash) and ninth at Homestead. When the season ended, Haley wound up with three top five and twelve top 10 finishes, with 37 laps led and only two DNF’s. His average start was 11.4 with an average finish of 11.2.

    “The 24 guys and I finished off the year well,” he said. “It was a smooth night under the lights in Homestead. Mike Ford did a great job on the pit box calling the race for us. I can’t ask much more out of our rookie season together. Everyone that pitched in this year from the road crew, to the pit crew and the guys back home means the world to me.”

    You can follow Justin on Twitter @Justin_Haley_ and on Instagram @Justin.Haley

  • Four Takeaways From The Ford Ecoboost 200 At Homestead-Miami

    Four Takeaways From The Ford Ecoboost 200 At Homestead-Miami

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series held its last race of the year this past Friday night in Southern Florida. As the sun set and nighttime fell, the action only intensified as the 2017 season neared its end. After the checkered flag flew, here are four takeaways from the championship event.

    1. Christopher Bell Earns Championship – In his second full year, Christopher Bell finally earned the championship after finishing second. He ended the season with five wins, 15 top fives and 21 top 10 finishes, with five pole awards. That was enough to earn him a championship. It would not be surprising if he challenges for the XFINITY Series championship in 2018, let alone win it all. After all, Bell has one win in eight starts this year in that series, along with three top fives and five top 10 finishes.
    2. Veterans Still Dominate in Series – In a year of new stars and rookies, veterans and champions, such as Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter were still dominant and age was no factor. Crafton qualified for the playoffs with a win on the dirt at Eldora and Sauter early at Dover. Sauter got in the Championship 4 for the second consecutive year after winning at Texas and Crafton got in on points. The two finished third and sixth, respectively, in the final race of the year. Crafton ended with one win, five top fives and 16 top 10 finishes, while Sauter ended with four wins, 13 top fives and 19 top 10 finishes. It just goes to show that veterans still can dominate the series and age is only a number.
    3. Grant Enfinger and Justin Haley Earn Top 10 Finishes – When it’s the final race of the year, racecar drivers like to end it on a high note. Enfinger and Haley did just that by finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Both of them finished in the top 10 in Stage 1, while Haley was the only one to finish in the top 10 in Stage 2. At the end of the day, the scoring loop showed them in the top 10. This was Haley’s 12th top 10 of the year and Enfinger’s 15th top 10 of the year.
    4. Exciting Playoffs – The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs might go down as one of the most exciting in its series history. Throughout the eight race round, we saw six different winners including an upset at Talladega by Parker Kligerman, which was very exciting for the fans to watch. Sauter was the only repeat winner after victories at Texas and Phoenix. Bell won at the opening round in Loudon but carried through with points and stage wins. The season, as always, ended in the bright Florida sun and showed a new champion, and a first-time race winner. The 2017 season, no doubt, was most likely one of the most exciting seasons yet for the Camping World Truck Series.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their championship stretch Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. It wasn’t a surprise as to who the winner was, clinching a spot in the Championship 4.

    Here’s a look at the power rankings from Texas.

    1. Johnny Sauter – Sauter continued his recent success at Texas Friday night by winning and advancing to Homestead-Miami for another shot at the championship. He placed second and ninth, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Sauter regained the lead on Lap 135 and held off a hard charging Austin Cindric for his 16th career Truck Series win and fourth career track win at Texas.
    2. Austin Cindric – Cindric had another strong showing Friday night by placing in the second position. After starting sixth, he was consistently in the top 10 most of the night when finishing third and seventh in both stages. Cindric even led once for 36 laps, but ultimately finished .170 seconds behind race winner Johnny Sauter. Currently, he sits fourth, -50 points behind first and is right on the cutoff line for advancing to Homestead. Nonetheless, a great showing by the No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing team, who is closing their doors at the end of the season.
    3. Justin Haley – Haley only had one previous start at Texas, which came in the June race and finished sixth. On Friday afternoon, he qualified on the pole, securing his first ever career pole position in the Truck Series. He did not place in the top 10 at all during both stages, but with pit strategy, Haley worked his way up and finished fifth, giving him his third top five of the season.
    4. Christopher Bell – Somewhat of a decent showing for Bell and the No. 4 JBL Tundra team. After winning the June race, it was expected for him to be up front and challenging for the win, however, Bell came up just two spots short. Bell dominated the first stage by winning and placed third in the second stage. He led twice for 20 laps and finished third.
    5. Chase Briscoe – The other BKR teammate was also in the top five Friday night, finishing in the fourth position. Briscoe started 10th but had a difficult truck to work with after not scoring in the top 10 in both stages. With the help of his crew and adjustments made during pit-stops, Briscoe rallied to a fourth-place finish, earning his eighth top-five finish in 2017.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings- Bowmanville

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings- Bowmanville

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series went north of the border for an action packed Chevrolet Silverado 250. One driver who was on the outside looking in was able to lock himself into the playoffs after a wild last lap. Here are this week’s power rankings.

      1. Austin Cindric – Cindric had been a strong contender all year long. Before Canada, he had four top fives and nine top 10 finishes. But one thing was missing and that was a win to lock himself into the championship hunt. On Saturday afternoon, the 19-year-old sat on the pole for the first time in his career. All he needed to do was back that up in Sunday’s race. Cindic dominated in Stage 1 by leading most of the laps and ended up winning. He didn’t finish in the top 10 at all during Stage 2, due to some varying pit strategy. He closed in on race leader, Kaz Grala who already had a win at Daytona earlier this year in the late laps. On the last lap, Cindric gave Grala a controversial bump and therefore winning his first ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
      2. Kaz Grala – Grala was oh so close to securing a second win of the 2017 season. He hasn’t won since the first race of the season at Daytona and since the midseason point, he’s been somewhat struggling. In Stage 1, Grala kept close to Cindric’s bumper but never could pass for the lead, therefore, finishing second in the first stage. During varying pit strategies, he was able to take the lead on lap 45 and lead for 19 laps until the last one, where he was bumped by second-place Cindric. Grala didn’t lose too many spots though as he finished a disappointing third.
      3. Noah Gragson – Gragson was another one of those bubble playoffs drivers who needed to win. Late in the race, he made a daring four wide move to up to third. Gragson stayed close behind the leaders and was able to make a pass on third. After Grala was bumped, he finished behind race winner, Austin Cindric. This was Gragson’s best finish of his career. However, it wasn’t enough for him to move up in the points, as he will have one more chance at Chicagoland to secure his playoff spot for the playoffs.
      4. Justin Haley – Haley had a quiet but strong day at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He finished fifth in Stage 1, but like others due to pit strategy late in the going, Haley wasn’t in the top 10 at the conclusion of Stage 2. He rebounded though and finished fourth. He’ll most likely have to win at Chicagoland to have any chance for the 2017 championship.
      5. Ryan Truex – Like Haley, Truex had a decent outcome at Canada. He finished seventh in Stage 1 and won the second stage after staying out, while others pitted. After stops, Truex stayed inside the top five for the remainder of the race and finished fifth. Truex has the best chance of making it into the playoffs based on points.

    Next Up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes another week off before heading to Chicago Motor Speedway Friday night September 15.

  • Four Takeaways From Saturday’s Truck Race At Michigan

    Four Takeaways From Saturday’s Truck Race At Michigan

    1. Darrell Wallace Jr. gets a breakthrough win at Michigan – 2017 has been an up and down year for Wallace Jr. After the XFINITY race at Pocono, the No. 6 XFINITY team was shut down due to lack of funding. However, he’s been filling in rides since then. He’s raced four races for Aric Almirola when he was injured from Pocono to Kentucky with a best finish of 11th at Kentucky. Wallace Jr. then received an opportunity to drive for MDM Motorsports at Michigan. He was able to make the most of it scoring his sixth career win in the Truck Series.
    2. Christopher Bell extends points lead – Bell continues his strong season by finishing second in Saturday’s race, giving him his ninth top five of the year and extending his points lead to 37. He’ll head to Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night looking for his fifth win of the season.
    3. Johnny Sauter has a rough day at Michigan – Sauter had a rough outing in this past weekend’s race. However, on the bright side, he was able to score some playoff points by finishing fifth in Stage 1. Problems continued as Sauter had to pit for a flat tire, thus ending his shot for a second win in 2017. He wound up finishing 18th and losing more points to Christopher Bell. Sauter will have to turn his season around at Bristol this Wednesday if he wants to retake the points lead from Bell.
    4. Three races remain until the playoffs – Three races, three wild cards until the 2017 playoffs begin at Loudon in September. This week the drivers will head to Bristol, then to Canada after a couple of weeks off with the final race at Chicago before the playoffs start. Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Kaz Grala are all locked in by securing wins throughout the season. However, the door is wide open after fifth as Chase Briscoe, Ryan Truex and Ben Rhodes sit on the bubble. Also, Grant Enfinger, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley are currently out at the moment. The season has provided some exciting and thrilling action so we could see three new winners in the next three races.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rankings – Kentucky

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took center stage at Kentucky Speedway Thursday night. Barring a three-hour rain delay, it was an action filled race. Here are the power rankings following Kentucky.

    1. Christopher Bell – While Bell was the dominant truck throughout the race, it did not come without issues. On lap 28, Bell took a spin in turn 3 bringing out the second caution. Bell had another issue in Stage 2, by being involved in a wreck on lap 43, but came away with no damage. He rebounded by the end of Stage 2 to finish sixth. In the remaining laps of the race, Bell swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek until he took the lead for good on lap 114. He eventually held off a hard charging Brandon Jones with just a few laps remaining to score his third win of the year.

    “This is pretty special man,” Bell said. “This is an extremely tough race for me. We had our ups and downs there and through practice yesterday.” “We had such a great Toyota Tundra that I knew, I knew if the right circumstances came up we could do it and Rudy (Fugle) did a great job on top of the pit box just getting me track position after I made a mistake there and spun out.”

    2. Brandon Jones – Jones’s race came with issues as well. After starting sixteenth, Jones slipped back to finish seventh in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. However, on lap 115, Jones and Ryan Truex made contact to bring out the last caution. It took him several laps to rebound, but he challenged for the win and eventually settled for second behind race winner Christopher Bell.

    “Yeah, I’m dying for a win right now for sure,” Jones said. “I was trying everything I could to get to the 4 (Christopher Bell) at the end. Eventually, I finally just started holding my line and you see him trying to move around stuff and try to mess us up a little bit. It was all fun and games for sure. I enjoyed it. It was a great start so far.”

    3. Justin Haley – Haley made his fourteenth career start last night and a career-best third. After starting 10th, Haley had a solid Stage 1 finish by finishing sixth. During Stage 2, Haley led only four laps to finish third. Haley eventually held on to finish where he finished in Stage 2, third.

    “We had a really good night in the No.24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevy,” Haley said. “We knew track position was going to be key and Kevin (Bellicourt, Crew Chief) worked out great strategy for us.”

    4. Noah Gragson – Gragson had a solid night at Kentucky. After starting eleventh, Gragson finished just two spots ahead in Stage 1 as the truck needed adjustments to get to Gragson’s liking. When Stage 2 began, Gragson started second and assumed the lead on lap 41 to win his first ever stage of his career. However, issues came in Stage 3. Gragson brought out a caution on lap 77 for a collision between him and Austin Cindric but started to work his way to the top. He was up to seventh with 10 laps to go, before eventually finishing in fifth place.

    “We led some laps during the second stage and were in a really good position running seventh to start the third stage,” Gragson said. “I just made a rookie mistake down there running the apron. Not running this track before, I didn’t know there was a bump there and I had a little bit of wheel into it down there in the front stretch and spun out.”

    5. Parker Kligerman – Kligerman has been solid recently in the truck series in 2017. Before Kentucky, Kligerman had only competed in three races and scored just one top 10 coming at Charlotte. Kligerman started in the 30th position after qualifying was rained out. While he did not finish in the top 10 in the first two stages, circumstances worked out for him and he came home to finish seventh, his best finish of the year.

    “Glad we had a solid night and we will take this and keep building on runs like this,” Kligerman said. “Good momentum going into our next few races.”

    Next up: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off, before heading to the famed Eldora Speedway on July 19.