Justin Haley is fighting for his future at Spire Motorsports after receiving a stark warning from team owner Jeff Dickerson over results in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Haley is currently 30th in points with no top-fives and one top-10 finish with 12 races remaining, and he endured a turbulent start to the campaign when NASCAR Champion Crew Chief Rodney Childers departed Spire Motorsports after just nine races.
There have been glimmers of hope for Haley in recent months. He placed 15th at Sonoma Raceway, 11th at Dover, and 17th at Indianapolis. He then finished 23rd at Iowa and 27th at Watkins Glen dominated by Shane van Gisbergen, with two regular-season races remaining at Richmond and Daytona before the playoffs.
Haley is fighting for his future at Spire Motorsports, with owner Dickerson delivering an honest verdict on this season’s results. Dickerson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “There’s pressure internally and externally that we all have to answer to and kind of meet. It’s no secret that Justin and that team, they just have not performed up to the expectations that we’ve set forth.
“That is something that we’re constantly discussing. How do we do better? How do we make this go better and faster and more results? I’ve been super proud of Justin the last few weeks because with all these rumors swirling around, I thought he put together a couple of good really weeks.
“Obviously led practice (at Watkins Glen). I’m actually kind of proud of him for how he has responded. I don’t know that if the rumors added any more pressure. I think as we have kind of evolved as a company … we are to a place where we have to meet those expectations.
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“It’s just not good enough for us to make it to the racetrack anymore or just kind of run 30th anymore. We just can’t do it. That’s just the way to put it. I would say that Justin is under no more pressure than us or than me to perform.
“I guess you just never know how this is going to go. I’m as curious as anybody to see where this goes the next 12 weeks. I do know this. He’s got two opportunities here to make the playoffs. I would not bet against Justin Haley at either of these tracks.”
Haley himself has admitted that 2025 has been a difficult year – but reaffirmed his focus on scoring strong finishes for the remainder of the season.
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“Obviously, it’s been a pretty difficult season, in general, with where we are in the points standing and kind of what we’ve gone through,” Haley said last month at Indianapolis.
“Definitely not what I expected when I started in Daytona, to go through all we’ve been through. But just trying to find a little bit of silver lining and get some good finishes by the end of the year.”