Hailie Deegan is set to compete in the Indy NXT series for the 2025 season, as announced by HMD Motorsports in October. Deegan, who has spent recent years competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and Truck Series, is now making the transition to open-wheel racing, sparking significant discussions within the motorsports community.
On a recent episode of Herm & Schrader, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader weighed in on Deegan’s move and a statement made by her father, Brian Deegan. Wallace brought up the topic by quoting Brian’s comment:
“Brian Deegan said, ‘I don’t think NASCAR is ready for a successful girl race car driver.’ What do you think?”
Schrader responded with a differing perspective:
“Well, I don’t believe that. I mean, I think about it some, but I don’t. NASCAR’s ready for whoever the next successful driver is. I gotta believe that there’s nothing that Daytona would like better than for a female to be climbing out with some consistency of these vehicles in Victory Lane. Who wouldn’t want that?”
Schrader elaborated further, explaining the statistical challenges female drivers face in racing:
“There’s thousands of good racers throughout the country. What percentage of them are even going to get to run at Cup or Xfinity or whatever, our Truck? And then what percentage of them are actually going to get to frequent Victory Lane?
“So now we take all those thousands of drivers, and then we take just the female drivers. Well, the chances are, just you know, statistically it’s just not near the chance. But it doesn’t mean they can’t.”
Hailie Deegan, the daughter of renowned motocross and rallycross rider Brian Deegan, began her career in dirt racing before transitioning to asphalt in 2017. She competed in various NASCAR series between 2018 and 2023, achieving notable success early on in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Deegan finished fifth overall in 2018 and third in 2019. However, her performance in the Craftsman Truck Series over the next three years fell short, as she failed to secure a podium finish or break into the top five.
In 2024, Deegan made her open-wheel debut in the Formula Regional Americas Championship. She then participated in an Indy NXT test session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October, where she shared her initial impressions of driving an open-wheel car. Reflecting on the experience, she said:
“It’s definitely odd. I could tell you that it’s different not having a windshield. That’s something when you race at Daytona, you don’t think about. On this side of things, you feel like your head’s going to rip off. That’s something that I’m definitely having to get used to. Not having the windshield and being able to really feel everything is unique.”
Since then, Deegan has continued to prepare for her transition to Indy NXT, training with the Toney Development Driver team. She recently completed further practice sessions at Sebring International Raceway earlier this month, sharpening her skills ahead of the upcoming season.
