Hailie Deegan’s NASCAR journey ended after she announced that she would be debuting in the 2025 IndyCar NXT season. Her NASCAR career had been filled with DNFs on track as she accumulated 14 DNFs across 70 truck races between 2020 and 2023. During her short Xfinity stint with AM Racing in 2024, she fetched the repertoire of getting wrecked unnecessarily, notching up 3 more DNFs in 17 races. 

From 2025, Deegan will be seen sporting the #38 for HMD Motorsports, and one can hope that open-wheel racing will be a blessing in disguise for her. Ken Schrader opened up about how Deegan could finally redeem herself and was mightily impressed with what he had seen so far. 

Ken Schrader and Hailie Deegan acknowledge the learning curve

The Xfinity Series appearance for Hailie Deegan with AM Racing did not go as one would have expected. Sporting the No. 15 Ford, she had entered the first 17 races of the season with deplorable results. Her average finish was about 26.8 with only four results of 20th or above. The major blow came when Deegan was replaced by Joey Logano. Logano ran the car at the Chicago Street Course with an eighth-place finish, the best of the season for the car. AM Racing and Deegan parted ways in July 2024, after Logano ran the car, and in her statement, she said, “Sadly our goals no longer align.” As she takes her talents to IndyCar, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader discuss her move and the talent she brings to the track.

On the Herm and Schrader show, Kenny Wallace said, “She says it takes her a while to get up to speed. She’s not a natural talent, she admitted it. But she mentioned that it would be harder for the guys to wreck her because, in NASCAR, you see these highlights where they just turn her and wreck her. She feels that when she moves to IndyCar or NXT, it will be harder for the men to just wreck her.” Wallace refers to a conversation he had with Deegan in October on the Kenny Conversation, where he made this same statement and she agreed with him.

Schrader concurred with Wallace’s assessment, saying, “It’s harder to wreck anybody in an open-wheel car… usually you’re involved too.” Schrader talks about how different open car racing is and that wrecking someone can not only be the end of their race but most likely yours as well. He further spoke about his experience racing with Deegan.

Ken Schrader raced Deegan a few times in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series and opened up about the potential Deegan carries. He said, “Everything was pretty well matched and she fairly hauled a– and did a great job… It’s a hell of a learning curve to go to a different vehicle like that. But she’s young enough that she shouldn’t be set in her ways, like some people that have run the stock car type vehicle for a number of years.” Deegan finished 2nd place at Knoxville Raceway during her first-ever SRX appearance in 2021.

Before that, Deegan already created history by becoming the first female driver to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race in 2018 with Bill McAnally Racing. She was overwhelmed with emotions after the race, saying, “This has to be the best day of my life right here. It doesn’t get any better than this. People don’t understand how many days, how many hours I’ve put into this.“

Hailie Deegan also scored points on her first-ever weekend in formula car racing at the Formula Regional Americas in late 2024 marking a shift. Racing for Toney Driver Development, Deegan made steady progress at Circuit Of The Americas. After finishing the final practice inside the top 5, Hailie qualified 11th before ending race one just outside the top 10. Speaking of her achievements, Deegan said, “Obviously it’s a big learning curve it’ so much different than anything I’ve ever done before so being able to just take in as much information as I can, learn from it, and see what things I did good.”

Following Deegan’s exit from NASCAR, her father dropped a harsh verdict on the future of women in NASCAR.

Is NASCAR a volatile ground for female drivers?

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This debate has been persistent for a long as to whether NASCAR is still chauvinistic at heart and resents female drivers. While in an ideal world, one would like to believe it’s a no, facts speak otherwise. The first woman NASCAR driver debuted in 1949, Sara Christian and since then, there have been very few female drivers in the forte, with just 20 female drivers taking part in the Cup series history. One name that has ignited hopes was that of Danica Patrick’s whose Daytona 500 pole in 2013 was quite popular as she was the first woman to secure a Cup Series pole. However, her career lasted just 7 years and she wasn’t able to win a race. Her best showing came at Atlanta (6th) in 2014, tying Janet Guthrie for the best finish by a woman in the modern era of NASCAR’s premier series. 

The same sentiment of NASCAR being gender biased has been echoed by Deegan’s father, Brian Deegan. He said, “I don’t think NASCAR is ready for a successful girl race car driver”. However, Ken Schrader did not side with the same emotions. He said, “No, I don’t believe that. I’ve thought about it some, but I don’t think so. NASCAR’s ready for whoever the next successful driver is”. Toni Briedinger could prove Schrader right. She recently secured a full-time Truck Series ride for Tricon Garage. Breidinger made history as NASCAR’s first Arab-American female driver after her debut at the Daytona International Speedway. She also holds the title for the top female driver in USAC history with 19 victories under her belt.

According to Schrader, NASCAR is a tough battleground for anyone, irrespective of what their gender affiliation is. “There’s about thousands of good racers throughout the country…and only what percentage of them are going to get to run… and what percentage of them are going to get to frequent victory lane… Take just the female drivers… statistically, it’s just not near the chance.” He pointed out that the problem with this format of sport is opportunity and not gender. Given the odds that play against each driver, the statistics come down ever further for women. Do you think we will see a female Cup race winner in 2025?