Almost a year ago, Justin Haley had a big opportunity. He swapped seats with Corey LaJoie, taking over the latter’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet in exchange for his Rick Ware Racing seat. He brought Spire’s first Cup Series victory back in 2019, when he won the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The past history and Haley’s promising performance fueled his 2025 seat. After 2/3rds of the season, however, all that credibility is fizzling out.

Justin Haley currently sits in 30th place in the championship standings. The shockingly low stats testify to his struggles this season – the 26-year-old Indiana native has scored only one top ten finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Considering the rest of his middling stats, his team owner is now getting serious.

Is Justin Haley facing the chopping block?

“There is no hotter seat in the garage than Justin Haley’s,” The Athletic wrote earlier this month. Quite understandably so, as Haley’s string of lackluster finishes outside the top 10 or the top 20 stands in wild contrast with his teammates. Carson Hocevar, in his 2nd full-time season, owns 2 top fives and 6 top tens and is pursuing his career’s first victory. Michael McDowell is also in a good spot with 3 top tens and 2 top fives, having put up strong battles with Shane van Gisbergen. On the other hand, Haley is currently in a battle just to prove his worth for the Spire Motorsports seat. His Daytona win is 6 years old, and the Spire team owner is losing patience.

In a recent Sirius XM NASCAR episode, Jeff Dickerson drew a blueprint of the tense situation. He said, “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?” Dickerson put pressure on Justin Haley about matching his teammates’ pace: “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.”

Haley worked with Rodney Childers for the first 9 races in 2025, after which Childers was let go. Working with Ryan Sparks as his new crew chief has not helped, so Dickerson is warning Haley next. With two races at Richmond and Daytona remaining, Justin Haley also has two chances. And given his prior win at the Coke Zero Sugar 400, his team owner is banking on him to harness some of that 2019 energy in 2025. Dickerson continued, “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.”

While showing Justin Haley the reality of his miserable season, Dickerson is also not happy with his teammates.

Snubbing the internal rivalry

During the Watkins Glen race, Shane van Gisbergen grabbed most of the spotlight in the front row. But if your eyes went a little further into the pack, you would have seen fireworks. And they sprang up between Spire drivers, Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell. Both of them ran each other aggressively in the last few laps. McDowell ran Hocevar down for 18th place, and the latter hit McDowell’s car while crossing the finish line. The No. 77 sophomore driver told reporters on Wednesday that he and McDowell planned to talk this weekend at Richmond. But before they settled their differences, their team owner was far from happy.

Jeff Dickerson chided both drivers after their Watkins Glen scuffle, drawing a reference from a similar incident in 2003. Dickerson told Sirius XM NASCAR, “Like I told them both. I didn’t know we had a top-18 bonus clause in our contract that had them looking like Ricky (Craven) and Kurt (Busch) at Darlington (in 2003) coming across the line for 18th. I was not terribly impressed with our guys on that exchange.” Hocevar finished in 18th, while McDowell finished in a position immediately below in 19th. Both are seeking to turn their championship fortunes around with a victory in the upcoming races.

With all three Spire Motorsports drivers in a drive to win, let us see how the battle pans out. Justin Haley may be more motivated, though, as his seat grows hotter every week.