Freddie Kraft, spotter for NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace, shared his thoughts on Hailie Deegan’s mid-season departure from AM Racing. Deegan was released by AM Racing earlier this year after competing in just 17 races in her first season in Xfinity.
After three full seasons in the Truck Series, driving for teams such as ThorSports Racing, Hailie Deegan secured a promotion to the Xfinity Series. In a move that surprised many, the California native signed a multi-year contract with Xfinity Team AM Racing for the end of 2023. However, Deegan’s partnership with AMR proved to be short-lived and ended prematurely. After competing in 17 races, the 23-year-old driver was unable to achieve a single top-10 finish, instead posting three DNFs this season. Rumors began to spread when AM Racing announced that two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano would pilot the No. 15 Ford in place of Hailie Deegan for the NASCAR weekend in Chicago. Logano finished eighth on Saturday at the Chicago Street Course, and AM Racing announced on Monday that it had ended its partnership with Deegan. Following the announcement, veteran NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft, who works with 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace in the Cup Series, commented on the move. On the podcast “Door Bumpers Clear,” he said:
“I mean, they should have known this was coming when they put Logano in last week. There were rumors that Haley was going to remove AM Racing from her entire Twitter profile and all her other profiles.”
He added:
“If a driver doesn’t have experience on the tracks he’s going to be on, you never know if his car is fast. Of course money is a big part of it, but if there was a way to get Brett and Haley there, it would only have been for Haley’s benefit.”
Freddie Kraft calls Hailie Deegan a “talented race car driver”
Kraft highlighted the performance of Joey Logano in AM Racing’s No. 15 Ford during the Chicago Xfinity race. He noted:
“We’ve talked about the underperformance of this team. Joey raced this weekend and didn’t exactly set the world on fire. I mean, he’s pretty good at what he does.”
Freddie Kraft was quick to defend Deegan’s abilities, calling her a “talented racer.” He stressed that Deegan’s lack of success with AM Racing was not entirely her fault, saying:
“She (Haley) is a talented racer, but that’s not Haley’s fault. She won a race in the regional series. So it’s just a weird combination of bad timing.”
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Josh Berry will replace Hailie Deegan in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway.
