The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season was a good one for Justin Haley who made all but two starts in the series. Prior to the ’17 season, he had only made six career starts driving the No. 32 Great Clips truck for Todd Braun in 2015 and 2016. His best finish in those years was seventh in 2015 at Phoenix. However, he upped that best career finish this year driving the No. 24 for Maury Gallagher’s GMS Racing Team.
Haley’s 2017 season did not start until the third race of the year at Martinsville and it was a rough one for the young 18-year-old. He started 24th but wound up finishing 26th, four laps down. A week later at Kansas, Haley finished ninth after starting 12th. With the exception of Charlotte, he continued to have consistent finishes inside the top 10, scoring the best finish of his career with a third at Kentucky. Haley finished inside the top 10 from Dover all the way until Bristol, where he finished 11th.
Haley’s moment to shine in the 2017 season came at Fort Worth, where he claimed his first ever pole position. He stayed strong in the race by finishing fifth.
“It’s really encouraging to see how far this team has come in just the last few races.,” Haley said. “We’re showing a lot of speed late in the season and that just proves how hard these guys work day in and day out. This was such an up and down race, but we overcame the adversity, learned a lot and got a top-five finish out of it. We’ll take this momentum into Phoenix and Miami, and finish the year out strong.”
In the final two races, he would finish 14th at Phoenix (crash) and ninth at Homestead. When the season ended, Haley wound up with three top five and twelve top 10 finishes, with 37 laps led and only two DNF’s. His average start was 11.4 with an average finish of 11.2.
“The 24 guys and I finished off the year well,” he said. “It was a smooth night under the lights in Homestead. Mike Ford did a great job on the pit box calling the race for us. I can’t ask much more out of our rookie season together. Everyone that pitched in this year from the road crew, to the pit crew and the guys back home means the world to me.”
You can follow Justin on Twitter @Justin_Haley_ and on Instagram @Justin.Haley
