One of NASCAR’s up-and-coming drivers, Hailie Deegan has been running full-time in the SRX Series this season. So far she has not been able to clinch a win, though her performances have impressed many. The Truck Series driver had a spectacular outing at the recent race at Eldora Speedway, finishing second behind Tony Stewart.
Advertisement
Following the race, Deegan was asked about what she could have done to get ahead of Stewart and why she chose not to. Her admissions were perfectly in line with her racing philosophy of no dirty business on the track.
Hailie Deegan explains why she could not push Tony Stewart for the win
On if she could have done anything to take the spot away from Stewart at the end, Deegan replied, “Honestly I don’t think there was. I’d say I’d have to have moved in, in some way shape, or form, and which isn’t easy here without playing someone in the fence.”
“So I don’t really I don’t like racing like that, especially someone like Tony, probably not someone I would ever race like that. And so I kind of knew we were racing for second tonight which I’m okay with.”
Just after 9 laps of the race, Austin Dillon, who was debuting in his SRX campaign managed to wreck out after losing his radiator hose. Following his wreck, the oncoming cars were not able to stop in time and they all began piling up into him. Deegan unfortunately was also involved in the incident. She later returned to finish the race in a backup car.
Deegan mentioned she does not wish to race in a certain way
A few weeks ago, after the race at Pulaski County Motorsports Park, Deegan spoke to the media where she revealed her disappointment at the ‘win at all costs’ mentality of racers, often leading to wrecks involving other drivers.
She mentioned, “It sucks because I feel like I am a pretty nice driver or I at least have been… I tried to be so nice… But like those are the people who get taken advantage of… I think Brad’s wrecked every single race here… It sucks because you have to race like an a**hole in order to not get wrecked…”
Furthermore, her reasoning to not race Stewart like the others often does make perfect sense. After all, everyone knows what happens when you try to race Smoke dirty.
