NASCAR Cup Series: 5 drivers who will regress in 2024

No. 5 - Justin Haley

This is an easy one for the simple fact that Justin Haley has left a team with which he was a contender for race wins from time to time to join a team that hasn't placed a single car in the top 33 in the owner standings since the 2021 season.

Haley recorded four top five finishes and an additional six top 10 finishes in two full seasons with Kaulig Racing in the Cup Series, and he recorded finishes of 22nd and 26th place in the point standings.

He was by no means a world beater at Matt Kaulig's team and was consistently beaten by teammate A.J. Allmendinger in 2023, but he will be lucky to come anywhere near those kinds of numbers at Rick Ware Racing.

Many view his move to Rick Ware Racing as a way for him to position himself within the Ford camp so that he can make a move to a more competitive team a few years down the road.

While they technically could have repossessed one of the two, NASCAR allowed Rick Ware Racing to keep both of their charters for 2024, citing their signing of Haley, their technical alliance with RFK Racing, and their use of Roush-Yates Engines.

But the reality is that it will be even more challenging for Rick Ware Racing to get inside the top 33 in the owner standings this season, given the fact that Live Fast Motorsports, the only team to finish below them in the standings in either 2022 or 2023, sold their charter to Spire Motorsports, giving an improved Spire Motorsports an extra car with which to contend.