NASCAR returns from only break of season with drivers hoping to stop Bell, Hamlin and Larson

Justin Haley said he had no role in the decision at Spire Motorsports this week to part ways with championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers, who got nine races with Haley before the team decided the pairing wasn’t a match.

”I showed up on Tuesday, we had our normal Tuesday, 8 a.m. meeting with the No. 7 team to see how we’d come here and try to win the race,” Haley said Saturday. ”And then after my meetings on Tuesday, I was notified. It was unexpected, but to be honest with you, I don’t think anything in this sport surprises me anymore, so you have to deal with adversity and change.”

Haley himself was a change in the Spire organization when he replaced Corey LaJoie in the middle of last season.

”I came to Spire Motorsports midway through the year, and somehow, it was a way crazier thing that happened to me than this week,” Haley said. ”I think at the end of the day, we’re in the Cup Series to compete, and on a Sunday in the Cup Series, everything has to be right. If one little thing isn’t right, you’re not going to win races, and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“That’s what Spire is trying to do. They’ve been putting so much time, effort and resources, money, ability, put people in the right places to try to win races. I don’t think they’re scared to do anything to win a race.”