Although they are separated by over 14 years in age, Justin Haley and Michael McDowell could very easily be brothers from another mother. When Spire Motorsports teammates Justin Haley and Michael McDowell race each other, they are among the cleanest side-by-side opponents in the sport.
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You won’t catch them cussing each other out like a certain Team Penske driver did to Sunday’s eventual race winner Austin Cindric over his team radio. Instead, their relationship is so tight, their friendship so close that McDowell and Haley are likely presidents of each other’s mutual admiration society and fan club.
“I don’t think there’s enough words to describe how good of a human Michael McDowell is and it’s so refreshing to have him as a teammate,” Haley said during a pre-race interview session with the media on Saturday at Talladega. “I think you saw years ago, what me and AJ (Allmendinger, when they were teammates at Kaulig Racing) had, and he was the older figure in that race team.
“(It’s) similar with Michael. He’s been such a good person to bounce ideas off of and he’s such a reliable person off the track and that translates to knowing you can count on him at the racetrack.”
When McDowell announced last season that he would be leaving his longtime home at Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 71 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, it was a surprising turn of events to some.
But the organization that Spire co-owner and president Jeff Dickerson is building was a perfect fit for McDowell and Haley, as well as second-year Cup racer Carson Hocevar.
“I think he’s a perfect fit for what we’re trying to do at Spire,” Haley said of McDowell. “I think the culture of the race team and respect of the race team and how we treat each other, I think he’s a big part of that and is the glue to get the loose ends figured up, different personalities.
“He’s just been awesome and I don’t have enough words. I enjoy working with him and glad we’ve been put together in this race team and hopefully we can do something good on Sunday.” And it seems the respect between the two is mutual as well.
McDowell relishes being a mentor
Admittedly, one of the reasons Dickerson brought McDowell to Spire was to serve as a mentor to Justin Haley (who turns 26 on Monday) and 22-year-old Carson Hocevar. It’s a role McDowell relishes – although he smiles when he admits he good-naturedly put a quick stop to Haley starting to call him “dad”.
“To me, more than anything, I just try to do my thing and hopefully lead by example,” McDowell said during a media session also on Saturday at Talladega. “And then we sit down and we have conversations; walk through anything that they want to walk through.
“But each one of those guys is so different. And so, I’m not trying to project or interject on them … how they should be or what they should do. They’re going to figure that out on their own.” It’s hard not to admire a healthy relationship built on mutual respect and clear boundaries.
