Who Is Justin Haley? Carson Hocevar’s Replacement Won Spire’s First Cup Race

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Justin Haley, who will drive Spire Motorsports‘ No. 77 Chevrolet in Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, is no stranger to the team. He won Spire’s first Cup Series race seven years ago in the same number.

Haley replaces Carson Hocevar, whom Spire suspended for brake-checking Austin Cindric at Martinsville, as Pit This Time reported.

A surprise win at Daytona

Haley won the rain-shortened Cup race at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019, driving the No. 77 in just his third career Cup start. It was the first Cup win for both Haley and Spire.

He later drove in the Cup Series for Kaulig Racing and Rick Ware Racing, and returned to Spire as a full-time Cup driver in 2025. He finished 31st in the standings that season with one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

His 2026 season

Haley moved to the Truck Series this year, driving Kaulig’s No. 16 Ram as the Stellantis brand returned to NASCAR. Through 24 starts, he has six top-10s and one top-five, and he is 16th in the standings. His best finish was fourth at Bristol. He started 17th and finished 34th at Martinsville last week.

His record

The 27-year-old from Indiana has four O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins and three Truck Series wins, all of the Truck wins coming in 2018. He won the 2016 K&N Pro Series East championship, now known as the ARCA Menards Series East.

What Spire said

“Racing at the Cup level is a privilege, and it comes with an expected level of professionalism from everyone who represents Spire Motorsports,” Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in announcing Hocevar’s suspension. “We’ll go to Homestead united and compete as an organization.”

Hocevar said in his own statement that he will be “rooting for the entire organization this weekend.”

What’s next

The Cup Series finale is Sunday, November 8, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Cup practice is Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET and qualifying is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on truTV, according to NASCAR’s schedule.