“She Should Move Up”: Danica Patrick’s Successor Hailee Deegan Backed by NASCAR Community After Major Career Move

Danica Patrick entered NASCAR and broke glass ceilings. She achieved what no other female driver had achieved. Even though Patrick has retired, the avenues opened up by her remain open. She cleared the way for future drivers, and Hailie Deegan has a chance to emulate her and possibly do better.

Racing for David Gilliland Racing in her first two full seasons, Hailie Deegan hadn’t performed too well. But seeing that age is on her side, ThorSport Racing backed her potential, and brought the 21-year-old on board for the 2023 season of the NASCAR Truck Series.

After the announcement, Deegan was asked “Hailie obviously David Gilliland Racing was, you know, they were still kind of growing. Thorsport is an established team, won Championships in this series. Do you feel this year will tell you whether you’ve got it, whether you can do this at an elite level as far as leading laps and winning races?”

Deegan replied, “Yeah, I think this year is gonna be a real good show of that. I mean I believe in myself. I think that I have it. And I think that we were probably missing a few pieces of the puzzle. Because there are so many pieces to the puzzle and you get to the point where in your development, you have to take that next step.

“And I think that ThorSport is a very established team, and has a very established past of success. And still, just throughout the year they’ve been so successful consistently even with all the changes in development in the Truck Series and with the trucks themselves. So I think that they’ve been such a good consistent team that this will be, I feel, a good year for me.”

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The new contract is a major show of support for the young talent and her fans will certainly be hoping that she betters her performance.  

Fans shield her from Danica Patrick comparisons

NASCAR is a sport dominated largely by male drivers. Danica Patrick was one of the very few who could make it to the top. With no other driver to make an apt comparison with, Deegan might slowly find herself as a target of Patrick’s detractors.

But fans of the driver know that she has huge potential. They were quick to show their support on Twitter after the announcement.

Watch This Story: Female NASCAR Driver Hailie Deegan Makes History With a Unique Record

2023 is definitively going to be a massive year for Deegan. Hopefully, she can delight her fans with some great performances.