There’s a rumor floating around the NASCAR community surrounding Hailie Deegan’s next move since her partnership with AM Racing ended. On an unsuspecting July 8 day, just a few days after Joey Logano replaced her for the Chicago race, Deegan and AM Racing went their separate ways. But less than a week since – from eagle-eyes fans closely monitoring her social media activity to gaining insight from online sources – there’s plenty of speculation that history may be repeating itself! Just in reverse.

Rumor has it that Hailie Deegan could be gearing up for a new adventure—a potential move to the IndyCar Series. NASCAR insider David Land tweeted, “Hailie Deegan on site for IndyCar in Iowa. Hanging around the Indy NXT series. Hmmmm.” This was the match that kindled the possibility of the 22-year-old switching motorsports. While it’s common for drivers to try new things when one door closes, this speculation about Hailie Deegan’s potential future sent out an invitation for a flood of questions and shock amongst the NASCAR community.

Interestingly, in 2019, Deegan test-drove an IndyCar at the World Wide Technology Raceway. Her first remark after getting out of the car? “You guys have a lot more grip than I do.” She subsequently even joked, “Scr*w stock car racing!” Posting this on X, David Land had written in 2019, “Real talk… give it a shot @HailieDeegan.” Well, if Land’s recent Deegan spotting in Iowa is anything to go by, this could happen.

That said, before driving full-time in the Xfinity Series, the 22-year-old established herself as one of the top female drivers in NASCAR. Having won her share of races and showcased sheer passion behind the wheel, everyone expected her to emulate that same performance in Xfinity, too. But that didn’t happen, and as a result, the rumors about an IndyCar move aren’t going down well. However, in the slight chance that it doesn’t happen, some were quick to speculate that Deegan could be embarking on a similar – or rather, the opposite – path to the 2008 Indy Japan 300 winner, Danica Patrick.

Patrick started her racing career in the IndyCar Series in 2005. She took three pole positions that year and was subsequently named the Rookie of the Year. With a career-best third-place finish at the 2008 Indy 500 and ranking fifth in the standing following the 2009 season, Danica Patrick capped off her full-time open-wheel racing career in 2011. She started her stock car racing journey in 2010 in the now-Xfinity Series, with the best result being fourth place in Las Vegas. And in 2012, she made her debut in the Cup Series.

While Patrick is often in the midst of controversies these days, she’s still the only woman to win an IndyCar race. Whereas Hailie Deegan made her Xfinity Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where she finished 13th—the best result by a female driver in a first attempt—and led to a full-time place in the Xfinity deal with AM Racing for the 2024 season, driving a Ford Mustang with technical support from Stewart-Haas Racing.

Truth be told, the comparison is not without merit, as both Hailie Deegan and Danica Patrick share many qualities and milestones in their years as motorsports drivers. Especially when Deegan, in particular, has previously been voted a potential successor to Patrick’s legacy with her impressive performances in the NASCAR Truck Series and Xfinity Series.

So, as this mystery surrounding Hailie Deegan’s future unfolds, fans have been buzzing with excitement and opinions about this rumor, with some sharing their opinion on NASCAR’s choice and the uncanny similarities between her and Patrick.

Fans think heading to Indy NXT would be an “awful idea” for Hailie Deegan

After David Land posted the update about Hailie Deegan, criticism directed at her followed. Since she stepped up to the Xfinity Series, Deegan has had one unconvincing weekend after another. In 17 starts this season, she never finished in the top 5 or 10 but had 3 DNFs. Not just that. In some races where she didn’t DNF, her actions caused damage to other cars, like her NHMS tangle with Nathan Byrd.

Considering the number of times there’s been damage to her car, a fan wrote, “Gonna need lots of chassis for any owner taking her in.” Along the same lines, seeing as a car chassis in Indy NXT is made of carbon fiber, another wrote, “I’ll invest in carbon fiber companies.” Because of her below-average form, many believe she doesn’t have what it takes to compete at the highest level. Alluding to this, a user commented, “I think it’s time Hallie finds something else to do.”

However, some fans claimed that a move to Indy NXT might not be the worst thing. What the Xfinity Series is to the Cup Series, the Indy NXT Series is to the IndyCar Series. That’s to say, it’s the last stepping stone to the premium class of IndyCar racing. Since Hailie Deegan is accustomed to and is good at dirt and off-road racing in open-wheel machines, a fan expressed excitement: “If I am her management, this is the place she goes. If she can compete in NXT, she can and would jump to Indycar. But she has to be at the front with some very experienced racers. Show me!!!”

Some fans even put their investigation skills to work, closely monitoring Hailie Deegan’s social media activity. They noted that she recently started following IndyCar’s Indy NXT series and Andretti Autosport, fueling speculation about her next move.

Considering AM Racing let go of her, the 22-year-old isn’t in Pocono this weekend. Referring to this and the fact that she’s in Iowa, a user said, “I mean, no obligations to be at Pocono. I don’t blame her for wanting to take a break from the NASCAR schedule now that she doesn’t have a ride.” They also brought Danica Patrick into the picture: “Danica did better in Indycar than she did in NASCAR. Maybe Deegan will be the same.”

As mentioned earlier, Patrick’s best finish in the IndyCar standings was 5th place. However, in the Cup Series, she could only achieve a career-best of 24th place in the standings following the 2015 and 2016 seasons. They made it a point to signify that Hailie Deegan can potentially take on this next challenge. Some even wrote, “Danica 2.0,” “Wouldn’t mind it. It’s the inverse Danica Patrick path at that point,” and “Reversed Danica Patrick career.”

However, some weren’t on board with the idea. Jumping to IndyCar after spending almost a decade racing in multiple NASCAR-affiliated series may not be ideal. “Awful idea. Throwing away ~7 years of stock car experience to start from the ground up AGAIN is not the way to advance her career. Sure, it’ll get clicks and buzz around it, but it’s just gonna lead to a lot of wrecked racecars in the end. She genuinely has a future in NASCAR,” they wrote.

While everyone is out to discuss the hows and whys of the situation, most are certainly excited to see if Hailie Deegan can transition and compete at the front of the field in the open-wheel series. If that happens.