Hailie Deegan Accepts Bitter Reality One Year After Leaving NASCAR Behind

The last twelve months have reshaped Hailie Deegan’s career trajectory in ways few anticipated. After parting ways with AM Racing during her rookie Xfinity Series campaign in 2024, Deegan turned to Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. The move marked a significant gamble, going from heavy stock cars to lightweight open-wheel machines. She sought a new proving ground after her NASCAR stint stalled. Yet the transition brought more than a fresh start. It introduced a formidable learning curve, which she recently opened up on.

Deegan’s new path has kept her in the spotlight, with every outing scrutinized by fans, sponsors, and the motorsport industry. Deegan’s finishes show flashes of progress. Most notable is her 11th-place finish at Laguna Seca. However, her current 17th place in the Indy NXT standings underscores how challenging the adaptation has been. With expectations high, the pressure only amplifies the importance of what Deegan herself recently admitted. Adjusting to this new world has taken longer than she initially hoped. And her recent interview about these struggles revealed the tougher side of her career reset.

Hailie Deegan’s new car woes

Deegan qualified 10th for her race at St. Louis, a track where she has also gained experience during her NASCAR days. Speaking about how much it helped her, she said, “I think it’s just being more comfortable on the ovals. It’s totally different than the road courses, so I think just getting comfortable in this car…Once you get to the main tracks, I love the bigger tracks. That’s where I tend to do better in qualifying.” This highlights her ongoing adaptation from stock cars to open wheel racing. NASCAR may have given her a baseline familiarity, but the Indy NXT cars handle very differently.

Deegan got candid about the physical and technical barriers in her present series. Reflecting on early testing, she admitted, “I just didn’t feel comfortable to push as hard as I felt I needed. After we made the changes and came back, we made a lot of good improvements.” That discomfort highlighted the gulf between her stock car experience and the open-wheel environment. Adjustments to setups and added laps have given her a measure of stability. But this journey has been far from immediate.

The steepest hurdle has been what she calls simply “getting comfortable.” She explained, “It’s so hard to get comfortable in a new car, especially in race settings. Overall, these cars are just so much different than anything I’ve ever driven before. I’m just trying to get comfortable with racing.” The words reflect more than a rookie’s learning phase. They reveal the reality of adapting to a discipline where the cars demand precision, strength, and a deeper understanding of tire and aero dynamics. For Deegan, the bitter truth is that comfort has not come quickly, and every race has exposed how steep the climb remains.

Despite the struggle, Deegan has leaned on her engineer and team environment at HMD Motorsports to manage the adjustment. She credits their guidance and support for helping her find her footing in unfamiliar territory. She called them “the most family-friendly team I’ve ever met.” She praised the chemistry with her engineer, too, saying, “My engineer… has been in Indy NXT and worked with Indy NXT drivers for a long time. He’s great at his job, and I really like him as a person and an engineer.” The contrast with her turbulent final months in NASCAR is sharp, and perhaps the stability of her current setup offers the clearest sign of progress to come.

Looking ahead, Deegan’s future remains fluid. She confirmed that sponsorship negotiations are only beginning for 2026. Her three-year deal provides some security but not absolute certainty. For now, the focus is on harnessing each lap, test, and race as another building block toward long-term growth. The bitter reality she acknowledges today may one day fuel the breakthrough she has been chasing since stepping away from NASCAR.

Deegan matches career best qualifying position at Nashville

Setbacks and growth have defined Hailie Deegan’s rookie Indy NXT season. However, she might have come through just in time. Earlier, she delivered a flash of promise at the season finale in Nashville. The move from NASCAR Xfinity to open-wheel racing has tested her physically and technically, yet this weekend, she equaled her best qualifying result of the year. That performance has sparked interest, raising questions about whether she can sustain the momentum.

On August 30 at the Music City Grand Prix, Deegan delivered her strongest qualifying effort of the season. She earned P10 with an impressive two-lap average of 181.962 mph. The result tied her previous best from World Wide Technology Raceway in June and placed her ahead of several competitors. This even made her the second-fastest driver among her HMD teammates. For a driver who has openly admitted the steep difficulty of adapting to Indy NXT machinery, this represented a meaningful breakthrough.

The timing could not be more important. HMD Motorsports recently confirmed plans to reduce full-time entries to four cars in 2026. This would mean opportunities will become even scarcer. For Deegan, matching her career-best in qualifying at the finale is not just about pace. It is a statement that she is beginning to find comfort in a series where progress has come slowly. On an oval, where she has often felt most at home, that step carried added weight.

Looking ahead, the question becomes whether this late-season spark can evolve into consistency. Deegan’s adaptation has been marked by flashes of speed without regular top-10 results. However, Nashville showed what she is capable of when everything aligns. With her future at HMD and in Indy NXT still to be decided, performances like these could prove decisive in shaping the next chapter of her career.