Kulwicki Spotlight: KDDP Segment One Leader Carson Haislip Always Eager to Learn

North Carolina's Carson Haislip led the Kulwicki Driver Development Program standings following the first segment for the 2026 season. There have been plenty of ups and downs to start the season, but Haislip is excited to continue building momentum and learning every time he's on track.

"It's been really, really good," said Haislip about his season in an interview with Racing America. "We've had our ups and downs and we've definitely had some of the higher days up where we're winning a lot of races. We've worked really hard and we're going to keep doing the same thing."

Last year, Haislip won 11 races en route to the Late Model championship at Wake County Speedway, and he hopes to defend that championship in 2026.

“I think we've won four races so far this year," Haislip said. "So kind of just keeping up the consistent finishes, staying up front throughout the whole year. I plan to go to other tracks here in the coming weeks. Wake County, I just want to keep staying consistent. Keep my car in the top three, top four, and then ultimately end the end the year out with a points championship. I feel that'd be really cool to go back-to-back in the late model stock points at Wake County Speedway."

Wake County Speedway's quarter-mile bullring has been instrumental in Haislip's development, from Legends Car racing all the way to the Late Model ranks.

“A lot of people don't really know about it, but we fill up the stands just about every week and I've learned everything I know from racing at Wake County Speedway. It's such a good racetrack for learning the racing, side by side racing, even using the bumper, getting moved out of the way. I feel like it teaches you a lot more than some bigger tracks that you're going to race at.

“Starting out with the Legend car, I mean, I learned just about everything that I ever knew in the Legend car at Wake County Speedway. And I've won a bunch of races there, but it didn't start out like that for me. I had to keep coming back week in, week out and just getting better and better and I feel like it was kind of the same thing in the Late Model."

While racing has been a great teacher, Haislip is also grateful to the people who have mentored him along the way in his young career.

“I've also had a lot of a lot of good mentors and helpers throughout all of my seven years of racing so far and just keep you know pushing. Even now, we're winning races and staying consistently in the top three each week. I still want to be better and better each time I go to the racetrack, so there's always more to learn. I always live by that because you're never going to be perfect at anything. The more I can learn, the more it's going to help me later in my life and really in the next coming months.”

Despite his success last year, Haislip was surprised to receive the honor of being named as one of five Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalists for 2026. Now, he leads the way among those five finalists in the battle for the Kulwicki Cup.

“I didn't expect to get accepted into the Kulwicki Program," Haislip said. "Being one of the five finalists as it was, was a big accomplishment. I knew going into when the points were coming out that we were going to be pretty solid. I was proud of what we had done so far this year. Just like I said, keep doing what we're doing."

Always a student, Haislip has particularly appreciated the mentorship and educational opportunities the Kulwicki Driver Development Program has provided during his first months with the program.

"It's just been nothing but great with the whole Kulwicki program with all the support and mentorship from everybody in the program. They've all been great. I've learned so much. We had a fitness training call last week and I go to the gym a lot. That one really hit me because, a lot of the stuff that I learned on that, I'm like, what am I doing with my life?

"It's not just racing. I would say since I started this with this program, I've had a better outlook on just about everything I do. No matter if it's race in life or whatever, there's so many resources within the program, that's why it's been so great."

Haislip hopes to continue that education in the second half of 2026, taking his Late Model to more tracks in the region. He also hopes to get more opportunities in a Modified after qualifying on the pole in his SMART Modified Tour debut at Wake County earlier this year.

"I definitely I want to go to Tri-County with the late model," explained Haislip. |I want to race the Modified again this year. We have some plans that aren't fully planned yet, but they're kind of down there on the books. The Modified was super cool one that you mentioned, starting on the pole. I know it was at Wake County Speedway, somewhere I race at every week, but this is a car I'd never drove until a day before that race. It was just a lot of learning. To start from the front row and lead the whole field to green was super cool in my debut. I feel like that's something a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do.

“I try and stay in the seat as much as possible. This week I'm going to be racing a legend car at Wake County Speedway. Just never backing out of the seat, trying not to take too many breaks and get out of my groove. Just like I said, keep learning and keep learning. There's still stuff I can learn in a Legend Car that I can apply to just about any type of race car."

Haislip is also passing along the knowledge he has gained to the next generation of competitors, fielding Bandoleros for up-and-coming drivers at Wake County.

"I have had plenty of people help me, ever since I started, and I've been surrounded by such great people that, I finally feel like it's my turn to give back," said Haislip. "Over the past two years, I've taken that in pretty well. Trying to develop the next generation of racing because, without doing that, we don't have much racing left. Those are the kids and the future of our sport. Getting them into it and making them better, it's definitely super cool.

"Seeing them go from barely finishing the race on the lead lap to winning races is super cool. To see what you tell them, they apply it to the race craft and see them win and achieve things that they might not have thought was possible is super cool to me. And like I said, I had the same kind of hope when I started out racing, people pushing me to be my best.

"Giving back to the other racing world and just giving back to what I was given. I feel like that's something a lot of people miss, but I love doing it. I don't do it for the money or nothing like that. I do it to help people out and help make them a better race car driver."

Haislip carries that spirit away from the racetrack as well, another reason he has been such a strong fit in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program.

"We actually just met with my sponsor, Pooch Pad. What they're doing, we're helping people in the community. Anybody who needs some help with their dogs' vet bills, you know, even just personal stuff, we try and we're going to try and help out some people in need. We're going to do the food bank as well, so we've got some plans lined up and we still got some more plan to do with the food bank, but we're trying to make it to where it can be something just a little bit cooler than and then donating some food.

"I want to do the Make a Wish Foundation because I love seeing people in the racing world and it keeps our sport alive. Hopefully, one of these guys want to see the racing world for a day or something like that. That would really be cool for me, and it'd be really fun because I love seeing other people smile. Putting smiles on people's faces makes me happy, no matter what type of day I'm having."

-Photo provided by Kulwicki Driver Development Program