Midway through her first season, Hailie Deegan, who was stuck in 28th place in the Xfinity Series standings, has parted ties with AM Racing.
There was no surprise in the news made early on Monday. After 16 races, she was ranked 27th in the standings. Two-time Cup winner Joey Logano took her position for the race on Saturday on the street track in Chicago, as the team most likely had to qualify on speed and she had to rely on an owners points provisional to get in the three previous road course races.
In Saturday’s race, Logano qualified fifteenth and came in eighth place.
Hailie, who turns 23 next week and is currently searching for her next ride, is at a career crossroads. She is the daughter of renowned extreme sports icon Brian Deegan.
Deegan and AM Racing confirmed her departure with remarks on X, the former name of Twitter. No substitute has been announced by AM Racing.
“There are always several reasons within a race team as to why things do or do not work, but sadly our goals no longer align,” Deegan wrote in his essay.
Deegan’s journey hasn’t been easy, even though he demonstrated potential by winning three races in the ARCA West Series in 2018–19.
He also finished third in the 2020 ARCA national series standings despite having no significant stock-car experience prior to turning 16 after switching from Toyota to Ford as part of the company’s driver development program.
In 2021, she debuted in the truck series of NASCAR. She managed five top-10 finishes over three seasons, averaging twenty-first place.
She moved to the Xfinity Series with AM Racing, which included former truck series champion Brett Moffitt for its first full Xfinity season in 2023.
Moffitt finished 15th in the standings with an average finish of 18th, suggesting that she had probably learned everything there was to know about trucks. Driving for AM Racing, Deegan averaged a start of 29th and a finish of 27th.
Her highest finish at Talladega was 12th, and she finished on the lead lap four times. Although it was her third top-20 result in nine races, she only managed two top-25 finishes and her best result in the next eight races was 20th.
AM Racing released a statement saying, “We wish Hailie the best of luck in her future endeavors and look forward to her continued success on and off the track.”
Having 1.6 million Instagram followers, 3.2 million TikTok followers, and 583,000 YouTube subscribers, Deegan is well-represented on social media. “Regaining my competitive edge is my primary focus,” Deegan stated in her post. “To me, that is all that matters. I’m searching as soon as I can for the greatest chances to get back on track.
“I appreciate everyone who helps me along the way and my fan base. I am the only one who genuinely understands the entire situation and what I need to do to win.”
