Stock rising, Justin Haley talks future, Rick Ware Racing ahead of Silly Season
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. “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.”
Justin Haley is paying RWR back for saving him in 2023
Loyalty has changed in NASCAR over the years. Silly Season can change the landscape of the Cup Series every so often. This season there is going to be a major shift. Once 2024 is over, Stewart-Haas Racing is closing its doors.
Justin Haley knows there are opportunities elsewhere if he wants them. While he wouldn’t come out and say it exactly, he alluded to it speaking with Claire Lang.
“I think the sport as a whole is in an interesting spot. Obviously there is Stewart-Haas which is going away which has a lot of important people there and good employees there that obviously everyone is looking at,” Haley continued. “There’s a lot I think with our relationship with Ford Performance and our relationship with RFK, I’m not in a hurry to do anything, right?
“Like I said, I’m committed to Rick, I’m loyal to him because of the opportunity he gave to me last year. Again, if he didn’t give that to me, I’d have a 9 to 5 job this year. So, it’s incredible what we’ve been able to accomplish, we’re not done, right? We’re going to keep moving forward, keep pushing forward.”
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.