Justin Haley at 9:30 pm ET on Thursday, April 28 2016 Photo – JJHR
Justin Haley is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR Weekend Preview on Thursday, April 28, 2016 at 9:30 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @beberly18 with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
As the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East heads to VIRginia International Raceway for Saturday afternoon’s Biscuitville 125, Justin Haley looks to continue his strong start to the 2016 season. Haley earned his first career victory in March when he led 28 laps en route to victory at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
Haley’s streak of four top-ten finishes to start the season in the No. 5 Braun Auto Chevrolet has him second in the championship standings, a mere three points behind series leader Kyle Benjamin.
Last season in his VIR debut, Haley qualified third and finished fifth. The Indiana native led six laps in the race and earned a top-five result in a wild ending that required two attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.
“I am super excited to get back to one of my favorite road course tracks. Racing at VIRginia International Raceway with the K&N East Series is always one of the best races of the year. We had a good run there last year, but not the finish we deserved. Hopefully this year we can have the same sort of run with a better result,” Haley said.
Haley’s HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks team will bring four cars this weekend, but Haley is the only driver with extensive experience turning right in a stock car.
In addition to his K&N Pro Series schedule, Haley is racing in the TransAm GT2 class for Mike Cope Racing, which should help him greatly on the road courses in K&N competition.
Haley is also running several ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events in 2016.
Haley made the first start of his 2016 ARCA schedule this past weekend at Salem Speedway, finishing second in the No. 74 Braun Auto Group Chevrolet. The second-place finish was a career-best in the series for Haley and came in just his tenth start.
Haley qualified tenth, but quickly moved up in the field and raced among the top-five throughout the afternoon. The fourth and final caution of the 200-lap race flew at Lap 140 and resulted in an extensive clean-up for oil around the half-mile track.
With speedy dry abundant in the preferred high-line in turns three and four, it led to a great battle between race-winner Christopher Bell and Haley on the ensuing restart. Bell would make contact with the wall and yield the lead, albeit briefly, to Haley.
“We definitely used the car up a lot,” Haley said as he stood on pit road and looked at the left side of his Chevrolet. “There was quite a bit of speedy dry out there. A lot more than I anticipated.
“My crew guys did an excellent job on pit road. Coming away with second is a great way to start the season.”