Hailie Deegan shares she gleaned wisdom from Jamie Chadwick before 'dream' IMS debut
The HMD Motorsports Indy NXT driver, Hailie Deegan, had her first experience of racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course) last week (May 9 - 10). In line with this, she has, via a recent video, talked about her interaction with Jamie Chadwick (who has previously raced in Indy NXT) regarding going about things at the track.
Jamie Chadwick competed in IndyCar's junior category in the 2023-2024 season. Deegan has dropped an in-depth video around her Indianapolis outing via her YT Channel, it was captioned as follows:
"I've dreamed of racing here..."
While talking about the 26-year-old Chadwick, among other things, she added:
"Well, we are headed down for qualifying at the moment. Not much practice. It went by super quick. So, trying a few new things on the car. I like them, so fine-tuning everything and hopefully, we go better in qualifying here." Deegan said. (3:12 onwards).
Deegan further added:
"So some of the changes that we made, I talked to Jamie Chadwick, and she raced in this series. She did really good her second year, she said the first year she struggled with her strength quite a bit. So we did try a wider wheel. I do like it, but I need to get custom grips for it."
Indy NXT's 2025 Indianapolis event had two races, and Hailie Deegan ended up in 17th place in Race 1 on May 9. Following this, Race 2 took place on the 10th May, and Deegan slipped down one place to end her outing in P18 at IMS' road course.
Hailie Deegan's take on competing in maiden Indy NXT campaign
Hailie Deegan is well-known for her adventures in stock car racing. She has previously driven in NASCAR's Xfinity series and the Craftsman Truck Series.
However, when she was asked to talk about her 2025 switch to Indy NXT last year, she had the following to add around it:
“I am excited about the opportunity and look forward to working with a proven program in HMD Motorsports. I have much to learn, but I am ready to go. The team brings a wealth of knowledge for me to pull from, and I look forward to soaking up as much of that as possible before my race debut next March in St. Petersburg." Deegan said via Motorsport.
The ongoing 2025 Indy NXT season is three rounds down (including Race 1 and Race 2 at the IMS road course), and Hailie Deegan currently finds himself in 19th place in the drivers' standings with 54 points (yet to secure a top-10 finish). She is currently behind Nikita Johnson and Tony Tommy Smith, who have so far put on board 55 and 57 points respectively.
Next on the race calendar is Round 4, the Detroit Grand Prix. The event is slated to take place from May 30 - June 1.