18-year-old Canadian rounds out powerful ThorSport team
CONCORD, N.C. — In the dead of winter a little more than two years ago, Cameron Hayley took the route of many so-called “snow birds” from his home country of Canada to ride out the harsh February days in the far more temperate climate of Florida.
This particular trip, though, wasn’t simply a search for warmer weather. It also managed to launch his spring-loaded NASCAR career.
Hayley, an 18-year-old driver from Calgary, Alberta, found pay dirt against top-flight short-track talent that February at Daytona International Speedway, claiming the checkered flag in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series portion of the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach tripleheader in 2013. He added his name to a distinguished list of winners, with an up-and-coming Kyle Larson prevailing in the Whelen All-American Series race and former Sprint Cup Series winner Steve Park scoring a resurgent victory in the Whelen Modified Tour event.
“It does seem like a long time ago now,” Hayley said Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I mean, it was only two years ago, but when it comes down to it — I’ve done so much since then.”
Though the race was an exhibition that paid out no points toward the K&N championship, it helped elevate the stature of an otherwise little-known talent from the Great White North. Fast forward, and Hayley’s name takes its place on another list altogether — as a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with ThorSport Racing, the championship team the last two seasons.
“I think that’s kind of what put me on the map with everybody,” Hayley said. “Everyone started knowing my name after that and obviously moving to the K&N East Series last year it kind of got me down into the North Carolina, Charlotte-area and I guess people started to know my name more after that. It was kind of that Battle of the Beach when that really sparked people knowing me more.”
A pair of runner-up finishes in the K&N Series’ title hunt the last two years helped that cause. So did his first ventures into the Camping World Truck Series, where he showed speed and landed two top-10s in his first three starts last season.
After attracting the eye of team owner Duke Thorson and landing a seat in ThorSport’s third truck alongside veteran teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter, Hayley has shown steady growth, even while visiting tracks for the first time in his national series career.
Despite the unfamiliarity, Hayley has improved his finishing position each week, capped by last weekend’s fifth-place effort at Kansas Speedway. More improvement is the target again at Charlotte, site of Friday night’s NC Education Lottery 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, PRN, SiriusXM).
“It’s definitely been tough,” Hayley said. “This race is going to be my fifth new track again this year, so adjusting to all the different tracks and having all the tracks being new has definitely been difficult, but ThorSport has given me great trucks week in and week out and, like you said, we’ve been consistently getting better every single race. And we’ve had great trucks and had some bad luck, and I think Charlotte is going to be another one where I have lots to learn, but I think we have a great truck here and can do well.”
The learning curve may have been accelerated by having teammates in Crafton, the two-time defending series champion, and fellow veteran Sauter — who have a combined 498 truck series starts to their credit. Hayley has 491 starts to catch the two; in the meantime, he’s tapping them as a resource for as much advice as he can digest.
“Both of them have been a tremendous help for me already,” Hayley said. “Like I said, all these tracks have been new to me, so I can study race tapes, videos all I want, but until to you talk to a driver you don’t really know a firsthand account of what’s happening. Both these guys have helped me a lot. I haven’t been quite quick enough to run up beside them during races yet, but I think we’re getting there and I think I can learn a lot from that as well.”
Even though Hayley is still new to the team, Sauter said he likes what he’s seen so far in the teenager’s composure.
“I don’t really know him, he’s a rookie, new to the deal — but I think he’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders,” Sauter said. “I see him doing things that maybe necessarily don’t see from a lot of rookie drivers and I think he’s taking care of his equipment and showing speed at the same time. I think he’s been top of the board at Atlanta and Kansas, so there’s speed there and he’s only going to get better, so I think he’s doing a great job and I see some things in him that I typically don’t see in a lot of young guys at his age and at his experience level.”