By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
DARLINGTON, S.C. – When the fan vote opened for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race, Rick Ware Racing (RWR)’s Justin Haley was the first to ‘launch’ a campaign for votes, ‘HaleYes.’
With a video shot at Bristol Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse listed his reasons not just to ‘vote yes but to vote HaleYes.’ Since then, Haley, RWR and his public relations team at True Speed Communications have posted several other ‘campaign’ videos to social media.
Being able to ask fans to vote for him via viral videos has allowed the Winamac, IN native to break out of his shell. Haley has struck a balance between having fun and being professional during the ‘campaign season,’ which opened on April 23 and ends at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 19.
“Yeah, (I’ve been able to break out of my shell) a little bit,” Haley said. “I mean it’s just a tough sport, right? You know you want to be as professional as possible, and you’re told to be as professional as possible. A lot of times the more professional you are, the more personality that goes away. It’s just a tough spot in your sport. But I feel like this was a good mix of trying to keep it professional, but also bringing your personality into it so it’s been fun.”
Haley hasn’t been the only driver to campaign for votes to make it into the All-Star Race. Spire Motorsports drivers Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie have both campaigned to win the vote as well. The 25-year-old took friendly jabs at Hocevar for ‘buying votes’ with a viral Cameo compilation video.
The Ford Performance driver doesn’t like to get political, although he was having fun ‘embracing the role of a politician.’ Haley credited the campaign and being able to break out of his shell to his race team and PR team. He admitted that it felt like this was the first time in a few years that others cared to try and get him into the main event via the fan vote.
“It’s nice to campaign,” Haley joked. “I don’t feel like the last few years that there was any care to get me in. I can only do so much. The team has to work with me as well, so like I said, everyone at Rick Ware and True Speed Communications has been awesome and they kind of shipped it.
“It’s been cool, you have to do your own research. I’m not very political. I thought it was funny just like every politician, Carson had to pay for his endorsements, right? I’m not doing that, I’m just down to Earth, true American, just trying to do it the right way.”
With Haley’s last Cup win being a rain-shortened race at Daytona Int’l Speedway in 2019, the only All-Star Race he was competed in was at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2020. Without a victory, he is not currently qualified for the All-Star Race. Instead, he now must compete in the All-Star Open to attempt to transfer with the fan vote also being an option. Luckily he has the momentum of earning RWR’s first top-10 finish on a non-superspeedway track in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.
The All-Star Open is scheduled for Sunday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET with the All-Star Race at 8:00 p.m. ET on the same day. Both races will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.