"I'm excited for this" - Hailie Deegan makes feelings known about her first-ever Formula race
Stock car racing driver Hailie Deegan recently made her open-wheel racing debut in Indy NXT and shared her excitement in a YouTube video. Deegan drove at the Circuit of the Americas for Toney Driver Development with the team's other new driver Brady Golan. She will join HMD Motorsports for the Indy NXT series in 2025.
The 23-year-old former NASCAR driver had her single-seater debut this week at the Circuit of the Americas. She finished fifth in her first practice session and qualified 11th.
"I'm excited for this. It's going to be a little different for me because it is a standing start. I’m rolling off 10th. It’s a 35-minute race, so it’s definitely going to go by pretty quickly, especially since the laps are really long here. This is my first race weekend in this car, only the second time driving it, so I’m really starting to get the hang of it. Everything’s starting to click a lot better. I still have a little bit more to go," Hailie Deegan said (05:05).
Deegan ended up in the top 10 in the season finale of Formula Regional Americas. She missed the top 10 in race one but finished tenth in race two despite tough conditions with slick tires on a wet track.
Deegan raced in NASCAR’s Truck Series for three years and finished sixth twice. She moved up to the Xfinity Series this year but was let go mid-season by her team, AM Racing.
She has won three ARCA Menards Series West races and earned a large following on her social media channels.
Hailie Deegan to race in Indy NXT for HMD Motorsports
Hailie Deegan will join HMD Motorsports for the 2025 Indy NXT season and race in all 14 rounds in the No. 38 car.
Deegan's first test was on October 18 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. However, her move from NASCAR to open-wheel racing started slowly. She came last out of 22 drivers in the Chris Griffis Memorial Indy NXT test and only reached a top speed of 111.280 mph.
Her following test was at Barber Motorsports Park, where she completed 106 laps.
"Hailie, and especially the Deegan name, are huge in motorsports, and we welcome them to the HMD Motorsports family. Hailie has already been out to the shop and is taking the move to open-wheel racing seriously,” HMD Team President Mike Maurini said in a statement announcing Hailie Deegan's arrival.
Deegan is the fifth driver confirmed by the team, alongside Caio Collet, Josh Pierson, Tommy Smith, and Bryce Aron.