Hailie Deegan’s Massive Fan Following Not the Deciding Factor in Her NASCAR Step-Up

Sponsorship is what drives the racing in NASCAR, or at least, it drives the drivers. This was a point made by the Vice President of KHI Management recently. Sometime after that, Hailie Deegan, one of the biggest names across the three national series in terms of fan-following, was announced to be going full-time in the Xfinity Series from 2024.

This was undoubtedly a big step up for Deegan, going from the Trucks to the Xfinity. However, a cynic might assume that it was her popularity and her sponsor-backing that got her the ride.

Well, for those with that opinion, AM Racing’s President has an answer.

The popularity of Hailie Deegan took a backseat to her passion for AM Racing

After the announcement of Deegan going Xfinity full-time from 2024, AM Racing President Wade Moore opened up on why they signed the current Truck driver and whether her fan following had a play in their decision. “Obviously she has such a brand of following, but I don’t think that really tells the whole story of who she is until you really get to spend that time with her,” Moore said as per FOX Sports.

“We found out really quickly that she is just a very driven and passionate person. And it doesn’t just pertain to driving race cars. Everything that she approaches in her life, she’s typically very emotionally invested.”

“So when you have someone that cares about things as much as she does, we can figure the rest out.”

Truck Series to @NASCAR_Xfinity in 2024!
Congrats @HailieDeegan. @AMRacingNASCAR, here’s to an epic season ahead 👏 pic.twitter.com/uAnfyuhL2J

— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) October 5, 2023

Why many fans don’t fancy Deegan’s Xfinity step-up

Ever since her first full-time season in the Truck Series in 2021, Hailie Deegan has attracted a lot of criticism from those who disapproved her driving style. Sure, she’s had her fair share of on-track incidents with other drivers in the last two seasons. But when the rumors began circulating about her Xfinity step-up, her critics simply couldn’t digest it.

They argued that Deegan wasn’t good enough to be getting a promotion to the second tier of NASCAR and that she was bound to fail. After all, the 2022 season for Deegan was a letdown from her first. And even in the current season, she only has a couple of top-10 finishes.

Yet the fact of the matter is that regardless of a group of fans or critics not coming to terms with Hailie Deegan moving to Xfinity from next season, she is moving to Xfinity from next season. Of course, we wouldn’t know how she would perform in this new phase of her career.

But if her passion for racing and her determination to succeed are any indication to go by, she would surely give it her all next year.