Hailie Deegan, currently the only woman racing full time in one of NASCAR’s top three national series, has parted ways with her Xfinity Series team AM Racing after a disappointing first half of the season.
Deegan was removed from her car before Saturday’s Xfinity race on the streets of Chicago in favor of two-time NASCAR champion Joey Logano. At the time, the team said Logano would “fill in” for Deegan, and he finished a season-best eighth for the No. 15 car (which had been averaging a finish of 26.8 with Deegan behind the wheel).
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But on Monday, Deegan posted on her social media accounts that she will not return to AM Racing.
“(Racing in the Xfinity Series) is something I’ve been working towards for years and always dreamt about,” she wrote. “I worked hard to prepare for this season after the team pursued me to drive their car. Unfortunately, it has not turned out the way that I expected.”
Deegan added her goals “no longer align” with the team and said she was “working as quick as possible to find the best opportunities to get back to the track.”
“It’s truly only me that knows the whole story and what I need to succeed,” she added.
Deegan entered the NASCAR national series ranks in 2021 with high expectations after she won three races at NASCAR’s regional level. The daughter of action sports icon Brian Deegan, the 22-year-old Californian has a large following on social media and there were hopes she could be NASCAR’s first winning female driver.
But she only had five top-10 finishes over three frustrating seasons in NASCAR’s third-tier Truck Series and at times struggled to finish on the lead lap. Still, there were hopes she could have more success after a promotion to the second-tier Xfinity Series, based on a 13-place finish in her 2022 series debut.
Yet the results simply haven’t come. Deegan only has three finishes inside the top 20 in 17 starts this year, and the No. 15 car’s average finish has declined an average of nine positions from when former driver Brett Moffitt raced it in 2023.
In a separate statement, AM Racing said it wished Deegan “the best in her future endeavors and look forward to her continued success on and off the track.”
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