BROWNSBURG, Ind. – Hailie Deegan will look to add to her history-making season when she returns to the ARCA Menards Series this weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Already with two career ARCA top-10 finishes at Pocono Raceway and Elko Speedway to her credit, Deegan continues to develop her raw talent and has expanded her personal expectations for her time competing in the series.
“I’m excited to get back in the ARCA car this weekend and race a new track,” said the 18-year old. “We made the transition to the series earlier in the year and I think we’ve had some decent success so far. At this point it’s all about gaining experience and continuing to get better each time out.
“There’s a lot of good cars at the top of the field in the series, including three of my Venturini Motorsports teammates. I’ve got a lot of confidence right now,” she added. “Last week we had a really good test. Lucas Oil (Raceway) reminds me of tracks like Evergreen and Irwindale out west – that kinda gives me a good baseline going into this weekend’s race. There’s no reason we can’t expect to run top-five.”
On and off the track, Deegan is one of racing’s most compelling personalities in the sport today, despite not yet competing in any of NASCAR’s top-three national series.
Last month the Sports Business Journal reported that Deegan ranked No. 3 (behind Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson) out of all NASCAR drivers in social media value this year, and ranks No. 1 overall in total engagement.
Deegan, who’s currently competing for the 2019 K&N Pro Series West championship, etched her name in NASCAR’s record book last year becoming the first female to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series event in more than 30 years.
The Temecula, Calif., native backed up her record-setting performance by earning two more wins this season, one during the season opener at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas and a second back in June at Colorado National Speedway.
The daughter of legendary X Games Motocross giant Brian Deegan, Hailie began her driving career at the age of eight racing dirt on four wheels.
She’s the only female driver in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Pro Series, as well as the regional series, to win championships, doing so in 2013, 2015 and 2016 along with being the youth ever to win the Lucas Off-Road Pro Series Driver of the Year award (2016).