After Justin Haley's apology, Bubba Wallace's spotter addresses Kansas radio blunder at Spire

A driver-spotter miscommunication during Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas led to a difficult result for Justin Haley on his debut with Spire Motorsports. Bubba Wallace's spotter, Freddie Kraft, has given his take on the events that unfolded, which ultimately led to the 25-year-old's poor finish.

The Indiana native got into an accident with John Hunter Nemechek on lap 149 of Sunday's 267-lap event, where the former drove his #7 Chevrolet down into the latter's #42 Toyota, sending them both spinning down the backstretch. Trying to adjust to his new spotter in Stefan Parsons, Haley misunderstood what he was trying to tell him in that moment, leading to the spin.

"He said inside and I thought he meant out, I didn't process. I'm sorry about that," Justin Haley said.

Haley was involved in a driver trade ahead of Sunday's race, where he moved to the #7 Spire Motorsports car to replace Corey LaJoie, who took over Haley's spot in the #51 Rick Ware Racing car.

On a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, co-host Freddie Kraft explained how Haley was used to words and hints spoken by his spotter he worked with at Rick Ware Racing, and how he wasn't used to the "lingo" spoken by Parsons.

"Last week they made a driver swap on the 51 but the team stayed in place," Kraft said. "So the spotter of the 7 [car] stayed the spotter of the 7 and the 51 spotter stayed the spotter there, and now, you're having to learn a new lingo. The way Justin Haley's new spotter called three wide is not what he's ever heard before. He didn't, I don't think he realized he was three wide and hooked the left."

Kraft isn't sure how other spotters communicate to a driver that they're three-wide alongside two other cars, but he often calls it "middle of three" or "mid three." In Haley's case on Sunday, Kraft said his spotter called in "one in and out," and suggested that's something the driver wasn't used to and caused the accident.

"If Corey was used to that, and now Justin's not, it's just a lingo thing. If you use stuff people never heard before, then that guy's probably not going to use you, and this was just a case of that it sounded like to me."

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Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley had contrasting results on debuts with new teams

Justin Haley's debut with Spire Motorsports didn't pan out how he expected as he finished 33rd after being shuffled back from the lap 149 spinout. Corey LaJoie, meanwhile, finished 15th on his debut with Rick Ware Racing.

Haley has posted an average finish of 23.4 this season and has recorded two top-10 finishes. LaJoie has recorded an average finish of 22.767 and has tallied one top-five finish this season.

LaJoie sits 30th in the season standings with 427 points. Haley, on the other hand, is 33rd with 418 points this season.