Top Dog: Justin Haley
The old adage in the garage is that you need a little luck in racing. That is especially true at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that has a history of overtime finishes and wild endings.
Justin Haley got a taste of that in the Pennzoil 400 (March 5) at LVMS, taking advantage of an overtime restart to score a top 10 in eighth.
Most of the race featured long green-flag runs, limiting the amount of adjustments teams could make on the cars and the opportunities for track position.
Starting in 27th, Haley struggled with tight front grip early in the race but was able to crack the top 20 by the end of stage one to finish 18th.
The 23-year-old was happy with his rear grip and balance over the bumpy mile-and-a-half, keeping his No. 31 inside the top 20 for most of the race. He mirrored stage one with a stage two finish of 18th.
In the final stage, Haley got as high as 16th before the final caution flew with five laps to go. Crew chief Trent Owens made the call to go with four tires, setting Haley up for the short stint to the checkered flag.
Restarting in 15th alongside Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, Haley gained seven spots over the final two laps to score an impressive top 10.
Intermediates have quietly become a solid track type for Haley, especially Las Vegas. Two of his top 10s in 2022 came on intermediates and he has not finished worse than 17th in his last three races at the Nevada track.
Haley’s result was certainly welcomed for the Winamac, Ind. native, who had finishes of 32nd and 21st in the first two races of the season.
The No. 31 team now heads to Phoenix Raceway, where Haley recorded finishes of 17th and 27th in 2022.
Who Impressed
You have to skim further down the running order to find the underdogs compared to the first two weeks, thanks in part to the long green-flag runs. Kaulig’s other driver in Allmendinger racked up an 18th-place finish, though he was not a beneficiary of the overtime restart compared to his teammate.
Allmendinger’s race was fairly similar to Haley’s, as he hovered just around the top 20 for most of the race. A restart with 71 laps remaining, however, set up an encouraging run for the No. 16, as Allmendinger got as high as 12th. He did get in the wall late in the race, but the contact was not enough to hurt his car.
On the final lap, Allmendinger got loose entering the backstretch, causing his No. 16 to spin. He took a…
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