Hailie Deegan’s switch from NASCAR’s junior ranks to the feeder series for America’s premier open-wheel series has once again come under scrutiny by motorsports fans, this time for different reasons. Deegan, who is headed to the IndyNXT program, recently talked about how stock car racing was affected when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, ending the tradition of extended practice and qualifying sessions.
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The 23-year-old essentially pinned her struggles in the Truck and Xfinity Series down to the lack of the same. Talking about how the absence of pre-race sessions affected her performance during her debut season as well as heading into her second year in competition, she elaborated on Dirty Mo Media’s Speed Street:
“On the NASCAR side, it’s so lacking of seat time getting ready for races like I was a victim of the whole COVID deal where practice and qualifying was X’ed out my first year of Trucks.”
.@HailieDeegan’s breaking down the numbers: 21 hours of practice in NASCAR vs. 33 hours before IndyNXT. pic.twitter.com/4T47TmYlK8
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) October 26, 2024
“So I had no notes going into it the second year but at least I got 15 to 25 minutes the second year of practice so at least something to go off of,” she added.
According to a statistic shared by Deegan herself, her four years of full-time racing in NASCAR have offered her approximately 21 hours of practice time as compared to the 31 hours available to her before her debut IndyNXT event, highlighting the stark contrast in both genres of racing.
“It won’t matter she can’t drive!”
Fans did not take kindly to the California native’s arguments against her lack of performance in stock car racing and made their feelings clear on social media.
While a few took an objective approach and offered constructive criticism, some were blunt with their words. “It won’t matter she can’t drive! Only thing keeping her in racing is her sponsor with Monster from her daddy!!,” opined one fan.
“I like Haley, hope it works out in open wheel.. but @ConnorZilisch hasn’t had anywhere near 20 hours of practice in nascar equipment and he won on a road course debut,” stated another, comparing one of the most promising upcoming drivers in the sport to Deegan.
I like Haley, hope it works out in open wheel.. but @ConnorZilisch hasn’t had anywhere near 20 hours of practice in nascar equipment and he won on a road course debut..
— AJ 9 5 (@_AJ_95_) October 26, 2024
“I have no illness or hostility in my tone when I text this, so please do not take it as a negative. I simply want to make a suggestion for you at this point in your career… remove “I was a victim…” from your vocabulary. Put your head down and keep doing what you’re doing,” added yet another follower, offering valuable insight to what they think the open-wheel debutant should be focussing on going forward.
It remains to be seen how well Hailie can make the switch from stock car racing to the junior ranks of IndyCar, a transition that has historically been regarded as a difficult one for drivers.
