Surely you’d think driving in the Daytona 500 has to be one of the toughest things in all the motorsports, right? All that speed, all that drafting, all those maneuvers to make up places, the merciless aerodynamics, everything, contributing to the difficulty, making it only for those with an extreme level of talent, right? Well, Hailie Deegan has some things to say about that.

Deegan, who is one of the most promising drivers in all of NASCAR today, has had a bittersweet career so far. But there have been enough instances that proved that she’s got the talent.

Yet she claimed it doesn’t take much when it comes to racing in the Daytona 500.

Hailie Deegan cites Kyle Larson example for her “No Talent” Daytona 500 take

In a recent interview on the UNLEASHED Podcast, Deegan opened up on why running in the Daytona 500 isn’t something that is majorly driven by the talent of a driver. To support her point, she cited examples of the Hendrick Motorsports duo, both of whom have never really tasted any glory in the Daytona 500, but have had decent qualifying records.

“It’s Daytona, you’re only as good as your truck or car at Daytona. That’s plain and simple,” Deegan said. “You, qualifying takes no talent in Daytona. None.”

“That’s why whenever Alex Bowman or Kyle Larson get blown up, they legit, their interview is like, ‘Yep they gave me a good car.’ It’s not like I went out there and, ‘Yeah, I was just wheeling that thing pretty much holding it straight wide open,'” she continued.

“Like you’re doing nothing.”

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Deegan on what contributes to a good result at Daytona

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Having claimed that talent isn’t all that takes to do well at Daytona, Deegan then described the factors which actually end up deciding whether a driver has a good day in the Great American Race.

“There’s pretty much a checklist that you have like, ‘Okay, get through the gears good. Run the top,’ little things like that like you pretty much have to check those boxes and do nothing. Run the line like its nothing crazy,” she said. “It’s all upto how your truck is, and there are certain ways you can set up your truck or car.”

She claimed that there are drivers that are “really good” in qualifying, but end up being “terrible” in the race because their truck or racecar wasn’t set up properly.

“So when you’re more trim down qualifying, you’re gonna faster in qualifying because you’re going to get through the air quicker, but in the race, its gotta hand terribly in the draft,” she added.

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