“Is it Hailie Deegan or the equipment?”: NASCAR world reacts as Joey Logano struggles in AM Racing #15 machinery
As Joey Logano took the wheels of the No. 15 Ford for AM Racing in the Xfinity Series in Chicago, fans have raised questions about Hailie Deegan's spot on the team. Deegan was replaced by Cup Series full-timer Logano for the weekend race at the Chicago Street Course.
While Deegan has endured a tumultuous period in her maiden Xfinity Series campaign, the events leading up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Loop 110 race at Chicago Street Course were unexpected. The 22-year-old rookie, who made the move to AM Racing after spending three seasons in the Truck Series, was replaced by Team Penske veteran and two-time Cup Series champion Logano for the race. Logano finished eighth in the inaugural Cup race at the Chicago Street Course in 2023.
However, Logano's qualifying race did not turn out to be as smooth as expected. He finished 15th, leading fans to speculate whether the issue lay with Deegan or the car itself. Pointing out Logano's struggles, one user commented on X (formerly Twitter):
"So, is it Hailie Deegan? Or the equipment?"
Another user wrote:
"I don't think Deegan was the problem."
At a time when Logano was 28th in the qualifying, a fan remarked:
"Moving up from 28th to 28th"
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"Equipment, all you haters," a user commented.
"I still believe that Hailie Deegan can win a Nascar race one day. I mean she won and got a top 3 finish in multiple SRX races over the last few years and they are all mainly retired drivers," another fan wrote.
"Honestly…I’m starting to think Deegan wasn’t the problem," another user chimed in.
Joey Logano elaborates to Dale Earnhardt Jr. how he replaced Hailie Deegan in Chicago
Joey Logano elaborated on how he ended up replacing Hailie Deegan for the Chicago race during an episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast. Speaking to Dale Earnhardt Jr., he explained:
"They called me last week and said, 'Hey, you know we got the seat here for 15 that seems like to open up and do you want to drive it?'. I thought, 'Well, let me clear with my boss, Roger, to make sure that's okay and there's no sponsor conflicts written like that, right?'. And once I had all that clear, it just seemed to make sense."
The Team Penske driver added:
"It's gonna work some both sides of the deal. And when you think about, you know, AM Racing, they were looking to have an experienced driver in there and get kind of an idea of where their program's at."
The decision to replace Deegan with Logano has cast uncertainty on her future with AM Racing. The team has not confirmed a driver for the upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway, fueling speculation about Deegan's role moving forward. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the California native.