The Falloff of a Former Cup Series Winner That Nobody Is Talking About in 2026

If you’ve been watching NASCAR this year, you may have forgotten about Justin Haley. A winner at Daytona back in 2019, Haley once looked like one of the brightest stars in NASCAR. Now, he sits in the truck series, running in a miserable 15th in points. In 2026, the Kaulig Racing driver looks like a shell of what his expectations were.

After losing his Cup Series ride at Spire Motorsports, Haley returned to the Craftsman Truck Series as the anchor for Kaulig. John Hunter Nemechek made the Cup to Trucks move in 2021 to drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports to help mentor the then-19-year-old Chandler Smith. Nemechek was the regular-season champion in 2021 and had moved his way back to the Cup Series by 2024, where he drove the 42 Toyota. Haley, unlike the 2014 All-American 400 Winner, has had the opposite of that success, with just three top-10s. The drivers he was supposed to mentor, Mini Tyrell, Daniel Dye, and Brendan Queen, are all outside the Chase with four races left, and Dye was fired after the race at St. Petersburg. To add insult to injury, Spire Motorsports has become an elite threat, and Daniel Suarez has taken the seven Camaro to the top-10 in points and a Coca-Cola 600 victory.

The 2026 season can be the cover-up season for how disappointing the 27-year-old’s development has been. After his Daytona win, Haley became a contender in the O’Reilly Auto Parts series. He raced in the 11 for Kaulig Racing in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, winning four races. Once he jumped up to the Cup Series in 2022, he struggled to adjust to the competition. He left Kaulig for Rick Ware Racing on his own for 2024 and was traded to Spire mid-season for Corey Lajoie. He didn’t earn another win from the years 2022 to 2025.

What can be associated with Haley’s poor luck? The main culprit is most likely his decision of rides throughout the years. Kaulig Racing makes sense, with LeafFilter and Cirkul both being sponsors of the team. When Haley decided to leave Kaulig for Rick Ware Racing, he immediately lost those sponsors. In the 2023 free agency run, the former K&N Pro East Series Champion could have been in the mix to replace Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing or land at Spire in the 77 ride, but he had already signed with RWR. Carson Hocevar, who was picked to drive the 77, finished 11 spots ahead of Haley in points and now sits as Spire’s flagship driver. Meanwhile, Haley is struggling to earn a top five in the truck series.