In a sport where her male competitors are steadfastly rising up the ranks, NASCAR Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan has certainly made a name for herself, acquiring a career-defining promotion to the organization’s second-tier division, the Xfinity Series. Though the Ford performance driver has had a tumultuous season in the truck scene, Deegan’s promotion to Xfinity broke the internet after she was offered a ride with AM Racing for the 2024 season.

The 22-year-old’s entry will bring in a lot of eyeballs. Talking about her competition, with the action heading to the 1.5-mile Homestead Miami Speedway, Deegan’s Achilles heel and the popular 26-year-old sensation met their match after a day gone wrong. Despite the underwhelming performance, the Emerling-Gase Motorsports driver admitted her mistakes as she took a more diplomatic approach after her DNQ in Homestead.

Hailie Deegan’s NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series rival suffers a huge setback in Homestead

Now, racing in America’s top stock car racing promotion, NASCAR is certainly a racing enthusiast’s dream. However, the level of competition that is on offer in these circles is such that even after landing a ride, drivers might not be able to perform up to expectations. While several factors go into it for a driver to dish out a great performance, sometimes things can also turn awry.

Natalie Decker, NASCAR’s 26-year-old driver turned influencer, is one of the most popular drivers in the Xfinity Series. After capturing the NASCAR nation’s attention with her time in the ARCA and Truck Series, Decker is now in the seat of the #53 EGM car. However, as the playoff action reaches the 1.5-mile track in Homestead, Miami, Natalie Decker, who is also a strong competitor for the upcoming 22-year-old Deegan, met her match during qualifying.

She failed to qualify for the race, leaving fans disappointed. Reacting to Fronstretch, the driver took a more diplomatic approach to clear the air. She said, “First I need to thank Wawa for this opportunity and for wanting to partner with me and they believe in me and they are just a great company and I’m just so proud to be a part of Wawa and their family but to be honest practice sucked, our throttle get sticking, we got no good laps in.” 

The driver then went on to admit that she had in fact made some mistake, given she hasn’t been to the Miami track since 2019. “I haven’t been here since 2019 so it was really difficult going into qualifying when nothing to go off of but before qualifying you know I knew the marks I needed to hit, I practiced a lot on the Sim and I made a few mistakes and the car was really free and there was a lot of things that went wrong but overall, we just need to be happy and proud that we’re here and we have to hope for the best and move on, learn from what happened this weekend and try to better next weekend,” said Decker. 

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Wawa teases a huge event as its driver makes a stop in Homestead

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With the 2023 season nearing its epic conclusion, convenience store giant, Wawa is making big moves. Decker’s primary sponsor is actually sponsoring the upcoming race Xfinity Series race in Homestead. Wawa has announced a schedule of events in anticipation of the Homestead Miami-Speedway NASCAR Xfinity Series Race on Oct. 21, which the company is sponsoring.

The events will feature, Decker & Joe Graf, Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing as they make a pitstop in select stores, giving the community a chance to catch their favorite NASCAR driver up personally.

READ MORE: “This Should be Deleted” – Natalie Decker Slams NASCAR for Their Insensitive Marketing Gimmicks

Extending his gratitude, Wawa’s director of store operations, Dave Prevost welcomed the driver, saying, “We’re thrilled to give a warm Wawa welcome to Joe Graf, Jr. and Natalie Decker as they stop at our stores to get fueled up for the Homestead-Miami Speedway race this weekend where they’re each driving Wawa Recharger Energy Drink wrapped cars.”