The Justin Haley surprise at Daytona

Justin Haley got through the pitfalls at Daytona to score his first career success in the premier category.

Published on 08/07/2019 à 09:56

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The summer meeting at Daytona was not the clearest, with a delayed start due to the weather, a huge Big One, then a premature end to the race 33 laps before the end, once again due to weather.

Adventures which served as the framework for Justin Haley's first career Cup Series victory. The resident of the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro – Spire Motorsports took advantage of the stop of previous leader Kurt Busch (Chip Ganassi Racing – Chevrolet) to emerge at the front of the standings before the final red flag.

Leading on the track just after the collective crash and under yellow flag, Kurt Busch chose not to stop in the pits to hope to benefit from the best position on the track, with the storms expected.

While the race management indicated its desire to restart the event, Chip Ganassi Racing called Busch back to the pits... but the near stride, the risk of excessive storms left the officials no choice but to display the red flag.

Too late for the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet, who had already passed the pitlane, giving victory to Justin Haley, for his third start in the Cup Series, ahead of William Byron and Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports – Chevrolet).

Ty Dillon (Germain Racing – Chevrolet) and Ryan Newman (Roush Fenway Racing – Ford) complete the top 5. The best Toyota Camry, the No. 95 – Leavine Family Racing of Matt DiBenedetto takes 8th place.

The race was marked by a Big One caused by contact in the front of the peloton between Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing – Chevrolet) and Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing – Ford), notably involving Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr (Joe Gibbs Racing – Toyota), Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano (Team Penske – Ford), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Roush Fenway) among the 18 cars taken in the incident.