Dale Earnhardt Jr. sings praises of young NASCAR driver after doubting his career choice: "I just wasn't sure how to feel about it"

Justin Haley's 9th place finish at Gateway has attracted a lot of praise from Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Rick Ware Racing driver finishing inside the top 10 was a sign that he was beginning to find his groove with his team.

What his recent results have also done is prove Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrong. This was something Junior spoke about in the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download. He claimed that "the biggest thing" that jumps off the page about Gateway to him was Haley's finish inside the top 10. Junior mentioned how he's been proven wrong for questioning Haley's decision to move to the #51 car.

"I think he's got two top 10s in the last three races or in the last two races. Man, I'm telling you, when he came into our studios and told us he was going to race for Rick Ware, I just wasn't sure how to feel about it. And honestly, I don't think I could look him in the face and say, 'Man, I'm excited for you.' He was sitting there and telling us, 'I believe in this choice. I think I'm doing the right thing. I've been over to the shop. I've met everybody there. This is going to work,'"Dale Earnhardt Jr. described.

Earnhardt Jr. also remarked that he would've lost any money he put on that bet. Earnhardt further added that Haley is "legitimately running well."

So far this season, Justin Haley has had two finishes inside the top-10, both of which came in the last few weeks. At both Darlington and Gateway, he finished in ninth place overall. Haley has also finished in the top-20 three times overall.

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Denny Hamlin joins Dale Earnhardt Jr. in acknowledging Justin Haley's Gateway result

It wasn't just Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was impressed with Justin Haley's 9th place finish at Gateway. Denny Hamlin also had some kind words to say about the Rick Ware Racing driver on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

In addition to praising Justin Haley's performance, Hamlin, the driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, also mentioned Carson Hocevar in his remarks. The veteran driver claimed that one can't "say enough" about Hocevar and Haley's performances and that "hats off" are in order. Hamlin voiced out a "well done" to the two young Cup drivers, both of whom finished in the top 10 at Gateway.

Though they did not lack speed, Hamlin noted that their early-race strategy was largely responsible for their results. Hamlin claimed that they had speed during practice and that they're "running towards the top 10."