More Terrible News Hits Hailie Deegan as Indy NXT Debut Raises Red Flags
Hailie Deegan’s racing odyssey has taken yet another twist, but the early signs from her bold leap into Indy NXT are far from promising. The 23-year-old daughter of motocross icon Brian Deegan swapped NASCAR’s stock cars for the open-wheel world of Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports in 2025, chasing a fresh start after a rocky exit from AM Racing. Yet, her first official practice session at St. Petersburg has reignited haunting echoes of her past struggles—finishing dead last and exposing a steep climb ahead. Is this a new chapter of growth, or a repeat of the same old story?
Deegan’s NASCAR tenure ended on a sour note. After joining AM Racing for the 2024 Xfinity Series, her stint unraveled mid-season with lackluster results—her best finish a modest 12th—and a mid-July replacement by two-time Cup Series champ Joey Logano. The split was messy, with Deegan hinting at internal strife via social media, suggesting misaligned goals and operational woes. Crew chief swaps—from Joe Williams to Matt Lucas—failed to spark improvement, and her stats mirrored the chaos: no wins, no top-10s, and a consistent slide into the 20s and 30s. HMD Motorsports president Mike Maurini welcomed her with open arms, saying, “Hailie and the Deegan name are huge in motorsports,” but the optimism of that press release now feels distant.
The transition to Indy NXT isn’t just a career pivot—it’s a physical and technical overhaul. Deegan herself admitted the brutal demands to Motorsports reporter Jamie Little before St. Petersburg: “These cars are hard to drive.” Unlike NASCAR’s power-steered stock cars, Indy NXT machines lack that assist, forcing drivers to wrestle the wheel with raw strength. “I’ve had to change the way I work out—my hands are small, and they want to fall off the wheel,” she confessed. Her fitness obsession, once a personal passion rather than a racing necessity, now has purpose. “In NASCAR, it’s one of the most unphysical forms of racing,” she told Chiara Gerardo. “Indy NXT is so much more physical, which I love—training with a purpose.” Upper body strength is now her lifeline, but has it been enough?
The numbers from St. Petersburg scream trouble. Deegan clocked a best lap of 1:09.9742, landing her 21st out of 21—4.7517 seconds behind leader Dennis Hauger’s blistering 1:05.2225. Even more alarming, she trailed 20th-place Nikita Johnson by 2.5 seconds and lagged 3 seconds behind HMD teammate Sophia Floersch, a fellow rookie. Top speed? A 6.7 mph deficit to Hauger. These aren’t rookie jitters—they’re gaping chasms in a sport where split seconds decide fates. Equipment can’t take the blame; her teammates had the same HMD machinery. The spotlight swivels to Deegan herself, and it’s a familiar glare.
This isn’t new territory. In NASCAR, Deegan’s hype as a rising star—bolstered by her famous lineage and massive social media following—clashed with her results. Her 2023 Xfinity campaign with AM Racing mirrored this Indy NXT debut: high hopes, big name, back-of-the-pack reality. Now, she faces a discipline where legends like Jimmie Johnson stumbled transitioning from stock cars to open wheels. “It’s a big challenge—different to anything I’m used to,” Deegan admitted. “Not many have gone full-time from stock car to open wheel like I’m trying.” She’s right—the skills don’t translate seamlessly. NASCAR’s quick-reaction power steering is a distant memory; Indy NXT demands precision and muscle she’s still building.
St. Petersburg’s street course didn’t help. Unfamiliar and unforgiving, it threw “lots of factors” at her, as she put it. No prior testing there, no iRacing sim to lean on—just raw, real-time learning. HMD’s data-driven approach and testing resources outshine AM Racing’s alleged limitations, but three days of prep before her debut couldn’t bridge the gap. “My goal is to get through this one, have a clean day, and start going from there,” she said, tempering expectations in a way that jars with her high-profile billing. Communication hiccups with a diverse HMD roster—some non-local drivers—add another layer to her uphill battle.
The move to Indy NXT wasn’t Plan A. After AM Racing, sponsorship dried up, and NASCAR doors slammed shut. “I had excitement and hope, but it didn’t turn out how I expected,” she reflected. A Truck Series return or part-time Xfinity gigs were on the table, but funding didn’t follow. Indy NXT became her lifeline, a rapid pivot her sponsors surprisingly backed. Now, with HMD’s pedigree—churning out IndyCar talents like David Malukas and Linus Lundqvist—she has tools AM Racing never offered. But tools don’t drive the car. Deegan’s candor about the physical grind—“It’s super hard, your timing has to adjust”—hints at a driver aware of her limits, yet the stopwatch doesn’t lie. Is this a fresh dawn, or another chapter of unfulfilled promise? The Bahrain GP looms, and for Deegan, the clock’s ticking louder than ever.
