Hailie Deegan Describes How She Got ”Interrogated” at Her First Open-Wheel Racing Experience

23-year-old Hailie Deegan announced a few days back that she will be racing in the Indy NXT Series in 2025. She’d been axed from the Xfinity Series midway through the ongoing season due to lack of performance. One of the most promising young women in motorsports, she hopes that the avenue of open-wheel racing will treat her more kindly than stock car racing did.

Shortly in the aftermath of her departure from AM Racing in July, Deegan was spotted at the Iowa Speedway. This was when she got her first glimpse of what it would be like to race in open-wheel cars professionally. She’d been there as a spectator for the doubleheader weekend that featured races from both the IndyCar Series and the Indy NXT Series.

She spoke about the experience in a recent interview with Conor Daly and noted how she’d been bombarded by reporters at the track. She said, “I got interrogated like no tomorrow.”

“I couldn’t even have a conversation with Chase [Holden] cuz like everywhere I turned there was like a reporter with their phone. So, I was like I got to watch. But I more just kind of lingered around and checked it all out,” she added.

Even without the interference from the press, it is unlikely that Deegan learned things from watching drivers race that day. She admitted that she wasn’t a big fan of watching races in person and that she would rather do it from home on TV. She continued to note that the weekend in Iowa wasn’t when she decided to make the move to race in the Indy NXT Series.

Deegan accuses NASCAR drivers of being dramatic

The soon-to-be IndyCar Series superstar was in a conversation with former racer Kenny Wallace recently. The duo were discussing her interest in open-wheel racing when she mentioned how fitness played a major role in IndyCar.

She believes that driving in Indy would be a tougher experience than in NASCAR. This begs many questions about her chances of success there.

However, her words went, “Training is a huge part. I’d say it’s 60 percent of their racing.  And so I like that that’s actually utilized where NASCAR is not. Like in NASCAR, you don’t have to be in shape in any sort of form as much as people want to say, ‘Oh, it’s hot. It’s hot.’ You have air conditioning in a cool suit. Calm down.”

“Everyone is very dramatic in that sense on the NASCAR side.” Deegan works out every day and puts a lot of effort into keeping herself fit. She can only hope that her fitness levels can help her cross the finish line without crashing her new car.