Hailie Deegan’s Latest Shocking Entry Threatens Former Truck Series Champion Contention in the Xfinity Series

The NASCAR silly season’s money opens a new chapter as Truck Series’s most popular driver for 2021 and 2022, Hailie Deegan, gets a pass to drive in the organization’s second-tier division, the Xfinity Series. While the 22-year-old’s promotion has shocked the community, the quickness of the move also raised questions about her capabilities, especially when one considers her Truck Series performance.

Following her Xfinity Series debut last year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, starting 20th and finishing 13th, Deegan bagged a full-time ride in AM Racing’s #15 Ford, utilizing the team’s assets. Despite her underwhelming performance in the Truck Series, Deegan’s quick promotion has raised quite a few eyebrows, given the team’s indecisiveness with its existing driver, who also made his way from the third-tier division.

Hailie Deegan and her quick Xfinity boost raise concerns over her AM Racing teammate’s future

Unlike Deegan, who got a bump up to NASCAR’s second-tier division after a tumultuous Truck Series season, her possible AM Racing teammate, Brett Moffitt, bagged the role after a successful run in the promotion. While Deegan’s promotion is widely regarded as a marketing gimmick by many ardent enthusiasts, the move is certain to bring a lot of eyes to the Xfinity Series, considering how popular the driver is.

The Ford performance development driver has around 4.6 million followers on her social media, with 1.4 million following her on Instagram and another 3.2 million on TikTok. A couple of days ago, Deegan signed a multi-year contract with AM Racing, agreeing to be its full-time driver of the #15 Mustang for 2024 in its Xfinity program.

With the 22-year-old’s news making its way to the community, fans were curious to know about Moffitt’s role in the team. Will the team retain its current driver or will he be replaced? Though no official statements have been released about the #25 driver’s future, AM Racing President Wade Moore shared his desire to retain Moffitt on the team and field a 2-car program.

He said, “The goal for us is to find a way to keep Brett within the program, you know; as of now, we don’t really have anything to really report on that; that is not our intention. He has done a fantastic job for us, not only as a driver but as a pretense to just a teammate and a person; he really got it—someone to build around, someone to keep in the program, not just from a talent standpoint—so certainly something we keep moving down the field; we have all the necessary assets in order to run the 2Car program next year, so that is the intention as we move forward.”

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NASCAR nation’s concern: Isn’t Deegan’s promotion a bit too fast?

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There are two ways to look at it. When the news broke out regarding her promotion, Deegan was ranked 19th in the Truck Series. For avid truck fans, her performance in the Thorsports Ford is nowhere near their expectations. In her first two seasons, Deegan could only manage a 17th and 21st finish in the season.

As a matter of fact, the Ford driver could only manage an average finish of 21 in her current season. Thus raising questions about her potential as fans dub this another styler over substance move from a NASCAR team. On the flip side, she has finished 53 of her 67 races, 37 of those on the lead lap.

Even the AM Racing President believes there’s more room to grow for Deegan. According to Autoweek.com, Moore said, “She’s very committed, very passionate, has a lot to prove, and has a lot of room to grow. Maybe she hasn’t lived up to even her own expectations, but we still have a lot of room for growth. Ford believes in her and Ford is going to continue to stay behind her.”

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To conclude things on a positive note, Deegan’s arrival on the Xfinity scene is certain to grab a lot of eyeballs as one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers makes her way up the ladder. Moreover, this will also test the young driver, as many believe the Xfinity Series cars are more in sync with the driver’s driving style.