NASCAR.com's Alex Weaver goes 1-on-1 with Justin Haley, the new driver of Spire Motorsports' No. 7 Chevrolet, ahead of his first start for his new team.
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00:00Here in the garage at Kansas Speedway with the driver of the number seven, Justin Haley.
00:04I'm having to get used to saying it. I know you guys are obviously the first week that
00:07you'll be inside of this race car, but I want to ask you your personal opinion. Why the
00:11switch now? What was this important for you guys to do this now at Kansas? I was a driver.
00:17It's just what you're told to do, right? But obviously, the plans for 2025 to come over
00:21to Spire Motorsports and the seven team. You know, it's good to kind of get in the rhythm.
00:26This week was really long for me. Started Monday, spent a lot of hours at the shop just
00:32trying to figure out the processes and everything and super impressed. I mean, nothing but good
00:35things to say so far. So, yeah, we get a little jump start here. See what we got. Kansas isn't
00:41one of my best tracks, so hopefully they can pick me up a little bit and see what we do
00:44this weekend. As far as 2025, we know that you'll be in this car for next year. What
00:49are you hoping to learn and accomplish these next seven weeks that can carry on to next
00:53season? Yeah, just getting back in the rhythm with Chevrolet. Obviously, I spent my whole
00:58career there, and then this year went forward for a little bit. But, yeah, just get back
01:03in the simulator. Aero balance of the Chevy noses and, um, yeah, just the Hendrick power
01:09train that we have. It's new to me, so not so much. Obviously, with Rodney coming on
01:13board next year, it's gonna be a little different. But, um, yeah, just kind of relearning everything.
01:18You mentioned Rodney next season. I know you're gonna get acclimated to this group these upcoming
01:22weeks, but Rodney will still have to make the transition. So what can you accomplish
01:25realistically without your crew chief that you're gonna have next season? I mean, we're
01:29still operating, right? There's a crew chief on the seven car, Ryan Sparks, and he's been
01:33with Spires since I was with Spire, right? He's one of the original, um, guys that were
01:38there. So I've actually worked with with Ryan Sparks for a long time over there when I was
01:43on the 77 car. So, um, yeah, Ronnie's been big. He's been super helpful already. Um,
01:49you know, being supportive and things, and obviously he's got a lot of experience, so
01:53I'm excited to work with him. Went to dinner with him this week, and we just kind of talked.
01:57But, um, yeah, super excited for this opportunity. I gotta thank Jeff Dickerson and everyone
02:01at Game Bridge and Spire Motorsports for letting me drive the race car. Justin Haley. Look
02:06for him in the number seven for the rest of the season.