NASCAR has levied a myriad of penalties against Justin Haley and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Team ahead of the Ally 400.
As the Cup Series takes their show on the road to Nashville Superspeedway, Haley will be batting from behind in the count. Due to some unapproved adjustments, Haley will not be allowed to qualify, forced to start at the rear and drive through pit road when the green flag waves on Sunday, among other punishments.
“Justin Haley will start at the rear for Sunday’s Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC) after a violation before qualifying,” NBC’s Dustin Long reported. “NASCAR stated that after passing inspection, the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing team made an unapproved adjustment.
“NASCAR penalized the team by: Not permitting the team to qualify Saturday. The team will lose pit stall selection. Car chief JR Norris has been ejected for the remainder of the weekend. Haley will start at the rear for Sunday’s race. After taking the green flag, Haley must drive through pit road.”
Alas, that’s a gigantic penalty for Haley, who has the No. 51 running better than it has any right to be, in all honesty. The former Kaulig Racing star has finished P13 or better in three of the last six races, with two top ten finishes during that time, as well.
Additionally, Haley was running in the top five before the rain came in New Hampshire, and he dealt with some issues when the race resumed over the final laps. That ruined what would’ve likely been another top ten at least for Haley and the No. 51.
Justin Haley still likely needs a miracle to get into the Cup Series playoffs, but his performance in 2024 has been admirable. We’ll see if he can still make a dent, as NASCAR turns their focus to Nashville this weekend.
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Moreover, coming into the 2024 season, Rick Ware Racing had never earned a top-10 on a non-drafting track. Justin Haley already has two such finishes. We are halfway through the NASCAR season and Haley has been more than impressive.
What Justin Haley is doing in the No. 51 car cannot be overlooked. He has elevated the level of performance for that car from practice to qualifying to the races themselves. With top-10 finishes at Darlington and Gateway, Haley has turned heads.
So, is Justin Haley looking for the next step up? Potentially a change of teams once again now that he’s proven himself at Rick Ware Racing? Not exactly.
“The waters are always tough to navigate. The things you say are tough to kind of put out there but short and sweet, super thankful for Rick [Ware] and everything he’s done for me,” Haley said, via Claire B. Lang earlier in June. “I’m committed to him and his process and whatever Rick wants my future to be, you know, if he wants me to stay for 5 to 10 years I’ll stay for 5 to 10 years. Just because he gave me the opportunity when no one else would, and I think that commitment and you know, him just putting his arm out and kind of saving me from the water last year, I kind of owe everything to him.
“Yeah, I don’t want to speak too much on it. I’m super thankful for Rick and really appreciative that he even gave me this opportunity. It’s crazy to think that after what social media said last year of how crazy this whole idea was and going to Rick Ware, just everything that was said to be in this spot right now, it’s humbling.”
When Justin Haley moved on from Kaulig Racing to Rick Ware, people questioned the move. It is clear now that he likely would not have a full-time ride at Kaulig given their situation this season. Rick Ware gave Haley a chance to be the guy at an organization. He’s already earning a ton of attention.
On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.
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