Hailie Deegan Opens Up About the Challenges of Switching from NASCAR to Indy NXT
Former NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan has shared her thoughts on transitioning from stock car racing to open-wheel racing in the Indy NXT Series.
Before her first practice session, she told reporter Jamie Little that open-wheel cars are “hard to drive.”
Deegan made the switch to Indy NXT after being released by AM Racing midway through the 2024 Xfinity Series season. This year, she is set to compete in her first full schedule, driving the No. 38 car for HMD Motorsports.
Jamie Little commented on Deegan’s transition to the second-tier open-wheel series:
“She started in off-road trucks as a kid. Then she moved up to ARCA, raced in the Truck Series, competed in Xfinity, and now she’s trying open-wheel racing.”
Little continued:
“I asked her yesterday what the biggest difference was. She said, ‘These cars are very hard to drive.'”
As Deegan adapts to open-wheel racing, she has had to make adjustments to her training routine. She told Little that her hands are so small they could slip off the steering wheel while driving an Indy car.
“She’s had to make several small adjustments to feel comfortable, and right now she’s just trying to get used to this car. She’s only had three days of testing, and that’s it. So she struggled a bit in practice, but right now, the key thing is getting comfortable,” Little concluded.
After her first practice session at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Friday, Hailie Deegan finished at the bottom of the timesheets with a best lap time of 1:09.9742 seconds. She was about 4.5 seconds slower than session leader Dennis Hauger, who posted the fastest lap at 1:05.2225 seconds.
Additionally, Deegan’s top speed was around 92.606 mph, roughly 7 mph slower than Hauger.
The No. 38 driver is set to make her official Indy NXT debut on Sunday at the St. Petersburg circuit in Florida at 12:00 p.m. ET. This race will mark the first of 14 scheduled races for the 23-year-old driver.
Hailie Deegan has openly shared her experience transitioning from NASCAR to the Indy NXT Series. The California-born driver emphasized that stock cars do not require as much physical effort as open-wheel cars.
