Hailie Deegan is probably more important to NASCAR racing than it realizes. Since Danica Patrick retired from competition, Deegan has emerged as the most likely successor to her standing as the leading lady of stock car competition in America.
But this week Deegan’s hype train hit the buffers, as at the age of 24, her Xfinity Series team pulled her from its No. 15 Ford Mustang and left her at a career crossroads.
It’s quite a contrast to Patrick, who finished 10th in the Xfinity Series standings in 2012 with Jr Motorsports as she transitioned from a reasonably successful IndyCar career – which included that ground-breaking win at Motegi in 2008.
Pole winner Danica Patrick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Eric Gilbert
Yet despite access to strong equipment with Stewart-Haas Racing and becoming the first woman to start on pole for a NASCAR Cup race – at the 2013 Daytona 500, no less – Patrick’s promise fizzled out without a win and she quit the sport completely in 2018.
She did, however, eclipse Janet Guthrie’s record for the most top-10s in Cup (with seven over her seven years of competition) but it left you wondering if the next female to come along would really break some boundaries in terms of race-winning results.
Hopes were high for Deegan to be that woman. In 2018, she became the first female in 30 years to win a NASCAR Touring Series event, when she triumphed in the K&N Pro Series West at Meridian Speedway’s quarter-mile track in Idaho and went on to score another two victories in that series.
She progressed to the national ARCA Menards Series and took Rookie of the Year honors on her way to third in points.
Hailie Deegan
Photo by: NASCAR Media
Deegan has a strong motorsports background, as her 16-times X Games medalist father Brian was the first man to land a 360 in freestyle motorcross competition. Her teenage brother Haiden is now starring in AMA Motorcross and Supercross with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing. She grew up in off-road dirt racing, in Trophy Karts, in her native southern California and scored 10 wins and claimed two championships.
Picked up by Toyota, Hailie was fast-tracked through the ARCA level with a stellar rookie season, which meant she graduated to NASCAR Trucks full-time while still a teenager. She holds the women’s record for most top-10 finishes in Craftsman Truck Series history and her popularity is massive – she also boasts over 1.6 million…
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