Haley was quick to point out that, during the two-hour weather stoppage, he was nervously awaiting any news and refused to let himself even think about the possibility of actually being declared the winner.
That mindset stemmed from his Xfinity Series appearance at Daytona one year earlier, where he passed Elliott Sadler and Kyle Larson to seemingly win the race, but had the victory stripped after he was deemed to have made the maneuver below the double-yellow “out of bounds” line.
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“For me, especially after Daytona last summer … my hopes were not up. I did not get my hopes raised one bit as the leader,” he said. “I was as cool and calm as could be, and I kept telling myself that I shouldn’t even have been there in that position. I know that I was in the race, and at Daytona anything can happen, but those things just don’t happen to someone in my shoes, you know what I mean?
“It was so cool to win a Cup race in my third start ever, with a team like Spire, but I was telling myself that I was going to lose it,” he added. “That way, if I did lose it, I was prepared. It was a little bit of reverse psychology.”
When it was finally over, Haley was determined not to have the spoils stripped from him this time, so much so that he was already long gone before his car ever officially cleared post-race inspection.
“After the race, I took the trophy … and the car was still in tech, because victory lane was so short due to the rain and everything,” Haley recalled. “I was already on the plane home before they called the results official and we knew for sure it was ours. I wasn’t giving it back, though, no matter what happened.”
Haley said he received numerous texts and phone calls of congratulations in the wake of his stunning Cup Series upset, but there was one congratulatory message which stood out to him above the rest.
“I wasn’t surprised by too many of the kudos I got, because honestly I don’t think half the Cup guys even knew who I was before Sunday,” Haley quipped. “I doubt half the field knew my name because I was so new to the series. I said the other day, though, that the coolest text I got was from Kenny Schrader.
“I’ve raced against Schrader a bunch in dirt modifieds, but the reason his text was so cool to me is because I didn’t even know he knew how to work a phone!” Haley joked. “For him to have thought enough to text me after that win was pretty dang cool to me.”
Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, and Haley was back at the race track, practicing in his regular ride – the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Haley was 12th and sixth in the day’s two practice sessions, preparing for the Alsco 300 Friday night.
Even though he’ll now forever be known as a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner, his focus was on two things: his pursuit of an Xfinity Series playoff berth and maintaining his moniker from last fall.
“We just have to keep moving forward. I’m not letting this change who I am, even though I haven’t known what to say or how to act all week long,” noted Haley. “I’m letting other people go crazy for me, because I honestly don’t think it’ll set in for me until a lot later, maybe even not until the offseason and when I’m getting ready for the 2020 season. We’re in the middle of a 15-week stretch of Xfinity Series racing right now … so my eyes are on that and trying to make sure I’m in the playoffs.
“I’m swearing by the ‘dark horse’ badge more now than I ever have, though,” he added. “That was the biggest win like that you can ever have. I think it truly was the biggest upset win in NASCAR history.”