Justin Haley, coming off his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win at Talladega Superspeedway, will compete in this year’s NASCAR Cup All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, July 15.
The Winamac, Indiana, native became eligible for the annual All-Star event when he scored his first Cup career victory at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019 in a rain-shortened race, though he is not a full-time Cup competitor. The win came in Haley’s third Cup career start, which was the earliest a Cup driver scored a first career win since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 in his second series start.
Haley will be driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Spire Motorsports, the same organization he drove to his first Cup win, while sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In addition, Haley, who became the 32nd driver to win across NASCAR’s three major division series, will also become the ninth NASCAR Next alumnus to compete in the annual exhibition race.
Haley is in his second full-time season in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing, where he has won once and notched seven top-10 results through 11 races. His lone Cup start this season came in February in the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, where he drove the No. 16 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Kaulig Racing and finished 13th.
With Haley’s entrance, 15 Cup competitors have secured their spots for the first All-Star Race to run at Bristol, including Matt Kenseth. The remaining competitors have until the event to either win any of the four regular-season series races prior to the All-Star Race (Pocono doubleheader, Indianapolis and Kentucky), transfer via the NASCAR All-Star Open that will occur prior to the All-Star Race on July 15 or as a final measure, be eligible for the Fan Vote win.
This year’s All-Star Race at Bristol will mark the first time the annual event will occur outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway as Charlotte, North Carolina, continues to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This will also be the first and only time in 2020 where the Cup cars will sport number logos towards the rear wheel instead of the car’s doors, a move that will provide more space for sponsor logos to appear on the car’s side and which serves as a test for NASCAR for possible, future uses.
Further announcements regarding the format of the All-Star Race will be announced at a later date.
