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I get to race because I have a p........
presence on social media

Hailie Deegan Admits Talent Isn't Reason She Has Full-Time Ride in NASCAR Truck Series

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Jan 26, 2022

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After the Checkered Flag
920 subscribersHailee Deegan visited with Fox's Bob Punkrass in previewing the 2022 Truck Series season and candidly admitted that she doesn't have a full-time ride in NASCAR because of her talent, but her social media presence.

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"I needed last year to learn to be good this year" – Deegan

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | March 3, 2022 2:13 PM ET

That Hailie Deegan didn’t run well during her rookie Camping World Truck Series season should not come as a surprise. Even knowing that moving up into a NASCAR national series would be hard, Deegan still admits she didn’t perform as she expected in the No. 1 David Gilliland Racing Ford.

Deegan had just one previous start under her belt going into 2021. Her little experience was exacerbated by there being no practice and qualifying, meaning few opportunities to learn. The depth of competition is deeper than what Deegan was around in the K&N or ARCA Menards Series. A truck drives nothing like an ARCA car, and Deegan believes anyone who says otherwise is lying.

In the end, Deegan finished 17th in the championship standings with one top-10 finish.

“I needed last year to learn to be good this year,” Deegan told RACER. “There were so many components (to truck racing) that I was at the bad end of that, and I had to kind of push through it as best I could and absorb as much information as I could to be able to apply it this year.”

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Deegan was thrown into the deep end of the pool last season. But now, she has some rafts to help her swim with the return of practice and qualifying, and continually leaning on the resources around her.

“I think a lot of people would have the same outlook coming from ARCA or wherever they did and jumping into the truck series – you to need to learn everything, but the problem is you do that in practice,” Deegan said. “We didn’t have that last year, so we had to do it in the race.”

Deegan spoke to RACER after coming off four peaceful hours on a boat fishing. Although it was something new to her, Deegan enjoyed getting away from reality and electronics when invited to the Academy Sports & Outdoors Celebrity Fishing Tournament. She only caught two fish on Lake Lanier and called her day mediocre, but found herself being about to use the time to relax and refocus her thoughts.

“I was like, ‘This is so relaxing and much needed,’” Deegan said. “This is what I imagine people would feel like if they went to a spa.”

Getting her mind right is something Deegan has spent quite a bit of time on recently. Deegan revealed she battled to get through last season, getting through the 23-race schedule by building a notebook and keeping her head up. Confidence became a struggle.

“I’m generally not insecure, but I’m not usually cocky confident,” Deegan said. “This year, I’ve heard it from so many people around me that I’ve got to be more confident, I’ve got to be mentally stronger, more confident in myself. That’s what I’ve worked on a lot this offseason and really broke down everything because you can go, ‘Oh, I’m going to be more confident,’ but that doesn’t mean anything. You have to figure out how you’re going to do that. I figured out what I needed to work on to game plan goals and how to accomplish them.”

Deegan made more time to study resources and data than previously. Veteran David Ragan remains an ally and someone Deegan spends time with at the Ford simulator. When it comes to the sim, Deegan dug into specific tracks for weeks at a time “just so I can nail this one.

“We’re going to try every single change, I’m going to tell you what’s good, what’s not, what I liked, what I think we should start in the truck with,” Deegan said. “Because you’re basing a lot of these trucks off the simulator, and a lot of the changes you make in the simulator, if they’re good and do everything you want, you’ll take it over to the truck before you bring it to the track.
In addition to having more experience this time around, Deegan is also looking to bring a stronger mental game to her second Truck season. Matthew Thacker/Motorsport Images

“I feel like I built a mindset of, we’re going to do everything we possibly can here beforehand, so I’m confident that when I got to the track, I can say that worked, that didn’t, now let’s figure out the next thing and just constantly be in working in my head.”

Believing that racing is racing and seat time never hurts, Deegan also invested in a micro sprint at the end of last year. She races and works on the machines with boyfriend Chase Cabre, and Deegan feels it helps stay competitive and intense.

Deegan understands a lot is expected of her, and it’s been that way since the beginning. The constant hounding can eat at a driver, but Deegan tries to keep her expectations in check. That doesn’t change even when Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, not only publicly said he expects a lot of Deegan, but if things go well, she could be looking at moving to the Xfinity Series in 2023.

“I think me, Monster (Energy), Ford, all of us are on the same page,” Deegan said. “Mark is a great guy. Mark’s competitive, just like me, so I understand. But I knew I had those expectations on me the moment I signed with Ford. It comes with it. You get big deals, you get big expectations.”

And given everything that Deegan learned and experienced last year, she’s all in with her goals this season.

“I want to make the playoffs; that’s my goal for this,” said Deegan, who will be back on track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second race of the season (Friday, 9 p.m. ET). “When it comes to (overall points) finishing, that’s my goal.”

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AdventHealth partners with Hailie Deegan to celebrate Women’s History Month

Meg Oliphant Getty ImagesSANDUSKY, OHIO — AdventHealth is launching a platform in March during Women’s History Month to celebrate the women working in NASCAR, including women drivers and the business professionals who serve as the backbone of race teams, tracks, agencies and media organizations.

The platform includes a partnership with AdventHealth, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ThorSport Racing driver Hailie Deegan, Women in NASCAR (WIN) and female members of the motorsports media. WIN is an employee resource group that aims to create a supportive community for women and allies in NASCAR offices to foster dialogue and promote professional growth. The organization empowers women at NASCAR by providing opportunities for career development, networking with all levels of the organization and giving back through charitable events in our local communities.

RELATED: View Deegan’s driver page

“This is an incredible opportunity to recognize the women working across our different offices,” said Kara Terwilliger, Chair of Women in NASCAR. “We’re honored to participate in this important initiative, and we hope to continue empowering women so that our representation in NASCAR keeps increasing. Women like Annie B. France and Sara Christian created a path for us, and we’re here to expand their legacy.”

As part of the partnership, during the March 18 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the deck lid of Deegan’s No. 13 Ford F-150 will feature the names of many of the women working in NASCAR. In addition, the name of Sara Christian, who was the first female driver to compete in NASCAR, will appear above the passenger-side door.

“I’m excited to partner with AdventHealth on this important initiative to honor Women’s History Month,” said Deegan. “It’s an honor to recognize the incredible women who paved the way for female drivers, as well as the female business professionals who are important to the day-to-day operation of our sport.”

“As a longtime sponsor in NASCAR, we’ve seen firsthand how important women are to the success of this sport on a weekly basis,” said Audrey Gregory, Ph.D., president and CEO of AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division – North Region. “We’re honored to be part of an opportunity to highlight drivers like Sara Christian and Hallie Deegan, as well as the incredible work of Women in NASCAR.” Hallie has a P**** too, and guys can't be sponsored by tampon companies, so hell yeah we are sponsored by women, so thank you Audrey.

Sponsorship of Deegan’s No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 during Women’s History Month is just one of the many ways AdventHealth is showcasing its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

MORE: Atlanta weekend schedule | 2023 Truck Series schedule

“At AdventHealth, we recognize that the customers who step inside our facilities represent all walks of life, and we are better positioned to care for our patients if our team reflects the diversity of the communities we serve,” Gregory added. “And as a woman minority leader within the organization, I am so proud of the relationship we have established with Hailie, driving not only for women in NASCAR, past and present but for all our team members across nine states.”

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Hailie Deegan joins ThorSport Racing, team switches to Ford for 2023

Meg Oliphant Getty Images, that's Oliphant, not elephant, you dumas!Hailie Deegan has a new home and a new number in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Deegan will join ThorSport Racing to drive the No. 13 entry for the 2023 season, she and the team announced Thursday afternoon, as the championship-winning organization transitions to Ford for the upcoming year.

RELATED: Silly Season recap | 2023 Truck schedule

“With 28 years in the Truck Series, we look forward to the partnership with Ford Performance in NASCAR,” team owner Duke Thorson said in a release. “Our pursuit of wins and championships remains at the forefront of our objectives.”

Deegan heads to the Ohio-based facility after spending each of the past two seasons competing for David Gilliland Racing.

ThorSport’s returns to the Blue Oval after spending the last two years with Toyota. ThorSport, owned by Duke and Rhonda Thorson, fielded Fords from 2018-2020 after a six-year tenure with Toyota from 2012-2017.

The manufacturer switch came with Deegan at front of mind, Allison Thorson shared with media members Thursday afternoon.

“Welcoming and working back with Ford performance, that was kind of one of the main points,” Thorson said in a video conference. “We were also reviewing our driver lineup at the time when, like many other teams right now, what are we doing for the next season and stuff, and Hailie was ready. And that was obviously a top topic to talk about – where’s Hailie gonna go?”

The answer: Thorsport, a program that claimed two of the last four Craftsman Truck Series championships. Matt Crafton won the title in 2019 before Ben Rhodes was victorious in 2021. In 2023, Deegan will pair with crew chief Rich Lushes, who led Rhodes to the 2021 championship.

Surrounded with veteran experience and success heading into her third year in the NASCAR national touring scene, Deegan feels the resources around her have never been better.

“I think it’s huge. I think that that’s definitely a big piece of the puzzle that’s getting added to the factor of my career and my racing,” Deegan said. “The quality of teammates and experience these teammates have here are just incredible. Just talking and having those conversations and seeing how open and willing they are to help you and making sure you’re as comfortable as possible is awesome. And I think that’s something that’s invaluable.”

Deegan’s time at DGR featured teammates whose experience level in the Truck Series – or stock cars in general – was similar to hers.

At ThorSport, Crafton returns for his 23rd season in Trucks; Rhodes is back for his eighth full-time year, and Ty Majeski is back for his second. Together, those three combine for 23 wins.

“You have to have teammates that are willing to work with you that are willing to go out of their way to make sure you’re in a good spot and be able to work with you on track and kind of going into races with a game plan and having those conversations beforehand,” Deegan said. “Or if your one teammate’s running better than the other, being able to have that comfortable conversation of asking, ‘Hey, what are you feeling here? Hey, what changes did you guys make?’ Or what did you like? What did you not like?

“Those are the conversations that you have to have at these races and in between practice and qualifying. And just being able to break down the races after having those quality conversations. I think that that’s something that really plays a huge factor to the development of a driver.”

In a video posted to her YouTube page, Deegan got a full tour of the ThorSport shop from Lushes, her new crew chief, and spent time with Crafton, who talked her through the shop and the differences in sightlines as Deegan was getting fitted in her truck.

Deegan, the 21-year-old native of Temecula, California, scored a career-best sixth-place finish in October at Talladega Superspeedway. That performance bettered her previous personal record of seventh that she earned in August 2021 at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Deegan netted a career-best two top 10s in 2022, ending the year 21st in the final driver standings.

ThorSport collected the 2019 series title with 22-year veteran Crafton in addition to five victories under the Ford banner in its prior three-year partnership and is welcomed back for the upcoming season.

“We’re happy to welcome ThorSport back to our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program,” Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, said in a release. “Duke has assembled one of the best organizations in the series with a driver lineup that is filled with youth and experience. We celebrated a championship together just a few years ago and know they have the potential to do it again in 2023.”

Ford has also invested heavily in Deegan through its development program. Deegan made her inaugural Xfinity Series start in October 2022 with SS Greenlight Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an effort that produced an impressive 13th-place lead-lap finish around the 1.5-mile oval.

“We love watching the development drivers progress, advance both on the track and off the track,” Rushbrook said. “And watching that maturity of Hailie in terms of how she evaluates a car or truck on the race track can break it down and articulate it back to her crew chief and team to set the direction that the car needs to go. That skill, I think, has advanced significantly, both on the track and while she’s working in the simulator with the team as well.,

“That’s awesome to see and a really important part of what a race driver needs to develop. And then it’s the racecraft on the track, which we’re seeing that develop as well. And I think this is the next opportunity with a team that’s going to be around her, the people that are going to be around her to give her that opportunity to go one more level.”

Moving to an established contender like ThorSport comes with inherent expectations. Deegan welcomes that challenge after two years with midpack results – a 20.9 average finish in 2021 and 22.1 mark in 2022, finishing 17th and 21st in points in respective seasons.

“I believe in myself. I think that I have it,” Deegan said. “And I think that we were just probably missing a few pieces of the puzzle because there are so many pieces to the puzzle. And you get to a point where, in your development, you have to take that next step. And I think that ThorSport is a very established team and has a very established path of success.

“And still, just throughout the years, they’ve been so successful consistently, even with all the changes and development in the Truck Series and with the trucks themselves. So I think that they’ve been such a good, consistent team that this will be, I feel, a good year for me.”

Deegan added that she plans to seek out continued opportunities to participate in the Xfinity Series in 2023.

senor honda

Yeah my daddy owns the company Thor Sport, and yeah, we fired somebody else so I could drive his car,
if he had a pussy, he might still be here.

I keep saying that I'm doing my best, but the real reason I'm most popular driver is that I have a bigger facebook following.
It has nothing to do with actually driving the car.

If my name was Kardashian, I would be more popular among the mindless dumasses that vote for my popularity.

If we don't start cheating more or have some bigger illegal engines, and I don't win something, I may be out on my butt.

These guys don't get out of your way because you won most popular driver, But if I don't do something race-wise, I may have to get a real job like maybe a secretary or a stripper or something.....or maybe go to work in daddy's company as a vice president or something.

IT'S OVER FOR Hailie Deegan, NO CHANCE FOR Nascar! | Nascar Apex

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Hailie Deegan JUST SHOCKED The NASCAR World With THIS!

Nascar Rebel
1.1K subscribers
5,702 views Feb 9, 2023 #nascar #nascar2023 #nascarnews
Why is Hailie Deegan trending in the NASCAR world right now? The 21 year old female race car driver from Temecula, California has been the most popular driver in the NASCAR truck series for the last two seasons. Now she’s made a major announcement that has blown the mind of millions of NASCAR fans. So what exactly did Hailie Deegan announce about her future? Hailie Deegan has run a total of 46 Nascar Truck Series races, but she has only managed to claim three Top 10 finishes

since the start of her Truck Series career. It appeared that Deegan could be on her way out of the sport, but one final opportunity at the end of the 2022 season boosted her chances at securing a new race team. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing.

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If you can't win races, it's not because you can't drive

It's because of Racism!

The real racers won't let you win so it's racism! (It works for people with deep suntans)

NASCAR Is Scared After THIS

Nascar Rebel
1.1K subscribers
3,143 views Feb 9, 2023 #nascar #nascar2023 #nascarnews
Natalie Decker has been a young female coming into the sport of NASCAR. But what did she say about NASCAR that was so discriminatory? Is this a regular accusation against the sport of NASCAR, or is Decker simply lashing out due to her lack of success on the race track? NASCAR has been around since 1948 and has gone through many changes through the generations, but here we are in 2023 and a female driver like Decker claims to be the victim of NASCAR’s behavior.

Decker is 25 years old and was born in Wisconsin on June 25th, 1997. She’s competed in NASCAR for the past several years, securing only one Top 5 finish at the Daytona International Speedway in 2020. While the young female driver has captured media attention due to her gender, she’s struggled with performance and has failed to qualify for several races due to her lack of speed on the track.

If I don't learn to drive, I'm gonna end up going back to go Karts, and I'll be just another drunk chick spreading it on a bikers pool table. If you need to talk to me I'll be at the beach, "working" on my tan by laying on my back and not moving much.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto
racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing....not racism.

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It's Time To Get Brutally Honest About Hailie Deegan

Black Flags Matter
69.6K subscribers


63K views 7 days ago #HailieDeegan #NASCARCrashes #NASCAR
Do you think Hailie Deegan is trending toward a NASCAR Bust or will you wait until Xfinity?

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Hailie Deegan's SHOCKING NEW Move Changes NASCAR!

NASCAR CULTURE
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7,484 views Jun 30, 2023 #hailiedeegan #nascar #nascarnews
Hailie Deegan is on the brink of completely leaving NASCAR. But her new move, with the help of Tony Stewart could not only benefit her massively, but simultaneously HARM NASCAR BRUTALLY. While all Deegan has been getting is TERRIBLE News in her NASCAR career lately, with many calling her “Doomed”, Deegan now shockingly holds all the power in her hands, with the help of Tony Stewart. But there's a hidden truth behind it, which you definitely wouldn't think of, so stick around with us for the next 8 minutes, we promise we won't waste your time! #nascar#nascarnews#hailiedeegan

NASCAR CULTURE

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