Justin Haley: 2025 NASCAR Driver Profile

Haley remains one of the sport’s top prospects, allegedly drawing interest from Hendrick Motorsports last summer with how he elevated RWR, the worst of NASCAR’s 36 chartered teams in on-track performance. Both he and Spire seem better the second time around, as their first stint (2019-21) drew limited success outside of the Daytona win.

There will surely be pressure to perform right out of the gate with Childers, especially with reigning Rookie of the Year Carson Hocevar looking to maintain his place atop the Spire pyramid. The hope is that the seven races Haley ran with Spire to close out the 2024 season serve as the perfect tune-up to refamiliarize himself with the organization and to determine what’s needed for 2025.

Justin Haley career stats

Haley is due for a career year, but it’s unknown what that will look like. Spire should continue its upward climb, but by what magnitude? This year could see Haley finding the same equipment and organizational struggles that doomed Corey LaJoie’s tenure with the team; or, he’ll rack up top 10s on a consistent basis and challenge for the playoffs. Either way, seeing how Haley and Childers perform will be fun to watch.

The Justin Haley file

Car: No. 7 Chevy

Team: Spire Motorsports

Crew chief: Rodney Childers

Years with current team: 1st full season

Best points finish: 22 (2022)

Hometown: Winamac, Indiana

Born: April 28, 1999

Scouting report

Anonymous takes from drivers, crew chiefs, and assorted industry insiders:

The stakes are about to go up for Justin Haley with Rodney Childres on the bit box.

“Haley’s super cool to race against,” says a fellow driver. “He has a lot of speed. He does a good job in a Cup car.”

“He’s clean when I am around him and that’s all you can ask for,” says another competitor.

One broadcaster says, “There are signs of brilliance but he’s never had the equipment to show if it’s real or not.”

On a similar note, a team owner says, “I am not sure if he is getting the most out of a car or if the car he’s in is better than we believed it to be. It makes evaluating him really hard, you know?”

“He isn’t going to give you a great quote, mostly because he doesn’t want to distract from his team,” a beat writer says. “You have to respect him from a racing standpoint.”