Hailie Deegan has opened up on the “reality” of the struggles within NASCAR, her time in the Xfinity Series, and the possibility of a return to the sport.
The 2024 season began with her racing full-time for AM Racing, but the lack of top-10 finishes and an average placement of 26.8 led to her departure.
Deegan has now transitioned to open-wheel racing with HMD Motorsports in the Indy NXT series, a development ground for aspiring IndyCar drivers.
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Hailie Deegan first made her mark in NASCAR with her debut in the Truck Series back in 2020, racing full-time until 2023. During that time, she managed to secure three top-10 finishes in 72 races, with her best performance coming in as a sixth-place finish at Talladega in 2022.
Her move to the Xfinity Series with AM Racing was announced as a step forward, drawing excitement from Ford Performance Motorsport, which had been supporting her career.
Yet her performance results in 2024 were not as successful as hoped; her highest placement was 12th at Talladega, leading to her standing at 28th after racing 16 times.
Despite hopes of becoming a prominent figure in the series, she left AM Racing mid-season due to lackluster outcomes.
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Turning her attention to open-wheel racing, Deegan signed with HMD Motorsports in October 2024 and participated in her first test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
This shift into Indy NXT signals a fresh start. The Indy NXT series is noted as a springboard to IndyCar, and with a large, data-driven setup like HMD Motorsports, she has access to a wealth of resources and experienced teammates.
However, she isn’t completely closing the door on future NASCAR efforts, especially if substantial sponsorship comes her way. During an interview with the Associated Press, Deegan explained:
“I’m not actively trying to look for a [NASCAR Xfinity Series] ride or anything, but if a couple million dollars falls in my lap, awesome.
“Same thing for everybody. Not many opportunities come unless you got deep pockets. I think a lot of people fail to realize that on the NASCAR side of things, it is such a crazy number.
“So if $6 million to run for a quality Xfinity team just came out of nowhere, fell off a tree, for sure I’d do it…It’s hard to to say to a sponsor, ‘You spend a couple 100 grand for this race, you’re going to get your value.’ You can’t promise that to people.
“So it’s very tough from that side. Obviously, I would have loved to run Xfinity full-time, but in a good car. The reality of that is, it takes a lot of sponsorship to do that.”
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