Justin Haley is perhaps one of the top superspeedway racers in NASCAR today with all of his Cup and Xfinity Series victories coming at either Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway. He has also won the second Daytona Xfinity race back-to-back since 2020, and will hope for a three-peat as he rejoins Kaulig Racing‘s Xfinity programme in the newly opened #14 Chevrolet Camaro.
“In a way, it feels like this is my bread and butter, especially at Daytona, one of my favorite tracks,” said Haley. “Together, we had three, successful Xfinity Series seasons at Kaulig Racing that transpired into a great first, full season so far in the Cup Series.”
While Kaulig has also enjoyed success on road courses with current Xfinity points leader A.J. Allmendinger, superspeedways have also been a favourite of theirs with three wins each at Daytona and Talladega by Haley, Jeb Burton, and Ross Chastain. Haley contributed four victories to those six, with his most recent win at the 2021 Daytona August race seeing all three Kaulig drivers leading a three-abreast finish.
“Having four of our five wins at superspeedway tracks in the Xfinity Series, there was no question that given an opportunity for a fourth entry, we would bring back Justin Haley,” commented owner Matt Kaulig. “For the past few years, our drivers have meshed so well together, especially on these types of tracks, and Justin Haley has been a huge part of our success as a team.”
After finishing sixth in the 2021 Xfinity standings, Haley graduated to the Cup Series with Kaulig in the #31. After twenty-three races, he sits twenty-second in points with a pair of top tens at Darlington and Atlanta, the latter being a 1.5-mile track that races like a superspeedway following its reconfiguration.
“We are super excited to have Justin Haley back behind the wheel of a Xfinity car,” team president Chris Rice added. “He has been a big part of how strong our cars have been on superspeedways, and this is a great opportunity for us to show how strong both Chevrolet and Kaulig Racing can be.”
Haley’s entry marks the first time Kaulig will field four cars in a race as he teams up with full-timers Allmendinger, Landon Cassill, and Daniel Hemric.