TALLADEGA, Ala. – Justin Haley is proving to be unbeatable on superspeedways.
Haley piloted his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to his third-straight NASCAR Xfinity Series victory on a superspeedway Saturday afternoon during the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The victory puts him in elite company as only two other drivers – Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – have won three or more consecutive Xfinity Series races in superspeedway competition.
“You look up to those guys your whole career and you aspire to be like them,” said Haley, who has one victory at Daytona Int’l Speedway and two victories at Talladega this season in Xfinity Series competition. “To be in that class is pretty special. This is my third Talladega win (he also won at Talladega in ARCA competition in 2017). Going to have to build a bigger trophy case I guess.”
Haley only led the final two laps of Saturday’s race and had to work hard to put himself in contention to win at the finish. Following a restart with 18 laps left, the field quickly shifted to single file racing on the top line with Chase Briscoe leading the train at the front.
Slowly but surely, Haley started making moves to get himself closer to the front. He began diving to the inside, passing one car and then moving back to the top to get back in line. With eight laps left Haley had moved up to sixth, but he still had work to do.
With five laps left the action began to intensify as several drivers moved to the bottom in an effort to move forward. Haley was among those drivers who moved to the bottom as he looked to make up ground.
With three laps left Briscoe was still the leader, but the JR Motorsports cars of Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric were lined up behind him and looking for a way by. Coming out of turn four Gragson tried to make a move and Briscoe blocked, but Gragson gave Briscoe a shot to the bumper that got Briscoe sideways.
Briscoe was able to get his car back under control, allowing him to jump in front of Haley in the bottom lane. He and Gragson crossed the start/finish line side-by-side with two laps left. Through turns one and two Briscoe was able to inch ahead of Gragson and he quickly shot back to the top lane in front of Gragson.
“He did get extremely loose, I thought he was wrecking,” Haley said of Briscoe. “Then he went back up and blocked the 9 (Gragson) and I was full tilt right with my head looking to see where he was going. I wasn’t even looking straight, I was just looking at him.”
That left Haley leading the bottom lane with Michael Annett and Ryan Sieg pushing him. Entering turn three Haley was able to drive to the inside of Briscoe to take the race lead for the first time. At the same time Briscoe got another shot to the rear bumper from Gragson, which sent Briscoe into the outside wall.
Briscoe fell to the back and out of contention. The contact between Briscoe and Gragson allowed slowed the momentum of the top lane, allowing Haley, Annett and Sieg to pull clear of the pack as they raced under the white flag.
“Once I got to the lead I was pretty confident, but I didn’t even know how I got to the lead,” Haley admitted. “Once I saw Briscoe and Gragson get together and do what they were doing and I looked in my mirror, the top lane was split up.”
Haley remained in control of the field through turns one and two and down the backstretch, but as the field raced towards turn three several cars at the back of the lead pack came together and crashed.
The caution flag waved moments later, making Haley the winner for the third time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career. The 21-year-old driver has seven victories across NASCAR’s three national divisions, with four of them coming at Daytona or Talladega.
“I was actually lifting as Annett was lifting so he couldn’t get a run. If I was just going to run wide open he could have gotten a run,” Haley said. “A lot of in the mirror driving.”
The victory locks Haley into the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, which begin Oct. 17 at Kansas Speedway.
“So much pressure is relieved, at least for a week,” Haley said. “We still have to go to the ROVAL. We still have to execute. We still need to finish well that way we have a good starting position at the next race and good pit selection.”
Annett was originally credited with finishing second, but he was disqualified in post-race inspection when the No. 1 Chevrolet failed height measurements. His car was too low on the left front.
As a result, Sieg was credited second, which matched his career-best finish. Gragson was scored third, followed by Brandon Jones and Hemric.
Several playoff drivers had bad days Saturday at Talladega. Riley Herbst and Austin Cindric were both involved in crashes, finishing 36th and 35th. Justin Allgaier’s engine expired after 95 laps, leaving him 30th. Harrison Burton also crashed and finished 24th, while Briscoe faded to 20th after his late contact at the wall.
The first round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs comes to a close next Saturday when the series competes on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL course.
For complete results, advance to the next page.