“Stop This Nonsense”- Fans Quickly Jump Back on the Hailie Deegan Hate Train After Shocking Indy NXT Test

It was never going to be easy. Eyebrows were raised when Hailie Deegan announced her participation in the 2025 Indy NXT season, where she will be competing in all 14 rounds for HMD Motorsports. After all, the format couldn’t be more different from her time in the NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series, requiring the 23-year-old to adapt to another driving style. Given her social media presence, the scrutiny was always going to be high, and failure to make an impact would have brought intense criticism for her unexpected career move.

As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. Deegan participated in the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis road course to get her first taste behind the wheel of an IndyNXT car, where the results were less than flattering. As expected, fans were quick to criticize Hailie Deegan, with many questioning her place in the IndyCar feeder series.

Hailie Deegan facing an uphill battle in the IndyNXT

It’s fair to say that Hailie Deegan’s NASCAR career came to a premature end. The California native spent three full-time seasons in the Truck Series and half a season with AM Racing in the Xfinity Series before her departure. It was her results behind the wheel of the No. 15 Ford that didn’t inspire much confidence. A 12th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway was her best finish in 17 appearances, highlighting her struggles in the racing series.

According to former NASCAR driver Conor Daly, who currently competes for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the IndyCar Series, Deegan’s switch was always going to be fraught with challenges. Speaking on the Speed Street podcast, the 32-year-old said, “I give her credit for taking the risk. This is a difficult jump, this is really hard to make a switch to an entirely different lifestyle, essentially an entirely different driving style, an entirely different style of vehicle. But I respect the effort. And again, she’s got one of the biggest followings on the internet and always the people with the massive followings have more people that decide to slander her than anyone else and that’s kind of shame. But I respect what she’s doing.”

There is an element of truth in Daly’s words. Hailie Deegan has 590k subscribers on YouTube and over three million followers on TikTok, making her an ‘online influencer’ as well as a racing driver. The IndyNXT rookie struggled behind the wheel of the No. 38 car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, clocking a time of 1:18.9038, significantly slower than her competitors on the 2.4-mile track.

Considering her performance, it should come as no surprise that her rock-bottom finish at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test brought about plenty of backlash from ‘fans’, who were quick to share their views about her performance. Even though it was her first time driving an IndyNXT car, the scathing criticism she received made it clear that motorsports enthusiasts were running out of patience with the 23-year-old, who will need to step up her performances to improve her reputation on the racetrack.

Fans get on Deegan’s back after poor showing at Indianapolis

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As expected, it didn’t take long for motorsports enthusiasts to share their views on Hailie Deegan after her performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. One fan drew parallels with Danica Patrick’s career, acknowledging that despite Deegan’s lackluster results, she gets more coverage than more deserving drivers because of her social media presence and popularity. Writing on X (formerly known as Twitter), the fan said, “When are we gonna give up on Danica 2.0? Deegan is 5MPH off the pace? Come on @MonsterEnergy stop this nonsense before it starts.”

Even though Hailie Deegan isn’t due to make her IndyNXT debut until 2025, her result at the 2.4-mile road course didn’t inspire much confidence. The California native was rock bottom in the standings, significantly slower than Tommy Smith, who finished second last. On that note, one fan wrote, “She’s a full 2 seconds behind the second worst car out there.”

Echoing that sentiment, another fan felt that her speed of 111.280 was particularly disappointing, especially considering that she was competing on a road course. The fan went on to sarcastically comment, “Deegan has quite the pace huh.”

Reflecting on her career so far, one fan couldn’t help but feel that she is undeserving of the many opportunities that have been presented to her throughout Hailie Deegan’s motorsports career. With sponsorships and endorsements playing a big role in drivers getting seats, the California native’s social media presence has opened doors that may have been closed otherwise. On that note, a fan wrote, “Hailie Deegan: Slow in trucks, slow in Xfinity, slow in SRX, slow in Indy NXT. Stop giving this bum opportunities! SHE SU***!”

Given her slow start in the IndyNXT, another fan couldn’t help but feel discouraged by her performance, even though she hasn’t made her official debut yet. The fan wrote on X, “Yeah this doesn’t look good on Deegan.”