Justin Haley has hood fly open during Cup Series practice at Martinsville

A little bit of an oopsie for Justin Haley and his No. 7 Spire Motorsports team. His hoodpins were not set during practice at Martinsville. After receiving an adjustment during NASCAR practice, Haley hit the track and his hood hit his windshield soon after.

Now, this could have been a bigger deal. Usually, it is a wreck that causes a hood to pop open like it did to Justin Haley. This time, it was a pit crew mistake.

Whoever was supposed to set the hoodpins did not. And so the hood flew up. Check out the clip from Prime Video.

That hood makes it really hard to see 🫣 pic.twitter.com/0XJE5y8OGd

— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) March 29, 2025

Justin Haley could use fewer problems like this and a little more speed from his car. This hasn’t been a horrible season but capitalizing off of last week’s success will be important this week. Haley earned his first top-10 of the season at Homestead a week ago. Now, he has his sights set on another.

Luckily, the hood issue didn’t cause further problems. Imagine if it had caused him to wreck or make another mistake while on track. It would not have been a laughing matter at that point.

Spire Motorsports has three teams this season with a lot of question marks. Michael McDowell has established himself, as the elder driver, as the top guy. He won a pole already this year, the first ever for Spire.

Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley are in this weird spot. It would be easy to get overlooked as Spire’s third driver. So, which one, Hocevar or Haley, will be that third fiddle and which will rise to the occasion?

Justin Haley finding his place at Spire

Right now, Michael McDowell has established himself as a real playoff contender. He is right in the prime of his racing career and that has shown in the last few seasons. While McDowell fights for the playoffs, Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley are still finding their footing.

While Haley has ten more points than Hocevar, you could argue Hocevar has had a better season. Haley has no stage points, no laps led, and doesn’t have a top-five finish.

Meanwhile, Hocevar has led five laps, has a top-five finish, and 20 stage points. His three DNFs definitely don’t help his case, though. If Hocevar avoids wrecking, he will likely overtake Haley in points.

Justin Haley had a little moment in practice. Now, he is focused on qualifying. Let’s hope his hood stays down for that run.