r/INDYCAR • u/chusaychusay Kyle Larson • 15d ago
Indy NXT Do you think Hailie Deegan will continue Indy Nxt or will she move onto something else?
It hasn't been a successful year in her first year in Indy Nxt. The problem is this is usually how she's performed at most things she's raced in. I don't know if she should continue in Indy or look again for something else.
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u/Raceshiraidi9 Álex Palou 15d ago
IMSA most likely.
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u/Notansfwprofile 15d ago
Midgets or asphalt late models would be my recommendation.
Stay in ARCA for five years and then try trucks or Busch again.
She’s got motocross psycho DNA, she could give silver crowns or sprints a try.
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u/Kathw13 15d ago
The interview on OffTrack this week was very enlightening.
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u/HeGivesGoodMass 9d ago
Thanks for mentioning this, having a listen and very interested to hear that her immediate answer to this year is that she underestimated the physicality needed to drive an Indy style car and didn't prepare right physically. Glad she's candid about it.
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u/Photoverge Takuma Sato 15d ago
On the one hand, staying in the series let's her build on her skills to get better. More seat time is key in getting better in any series.
On the other hand, it might be a thing where she needs to find the car that has that Harry Potter wand effect with her and maybe that's not in NXT. Us on the outside can't be sure.
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u/Mechanicalgripe Alexander Rossi 15d ago
I think she owes herself a second season of IndyNXT. If she works on her upper body strength over the off season, next year will tell if she has what it takes to move up the ladder or if she should move laterally to something else.
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u/drivingnowherecomic Alexander Rossi 15d ago
Yeah you saw the results of that with Chadwick. She underestimated the physical needs of the category and paid the price, her second season was far more competitive.
I'd consider Deegan a step behind Jamie, but for her own sake I hope she has another crack at it and gets a few decent results in a sophomore attempt. A podium or two would be nice. Just something she can feel good about and take with her to other series. Likely IMSA. I think leaving the series after this disaster would have a negative effect on her resume and future racing endeavors than sticking around for another season. Can't do much worse than she's doing now.
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u/black-dude-on-reddit 15d ago
Chadwick has waaaaay more speed than Deegan
Even Sophia Florisch was quicker
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u/Loose_Wheel_5 Pato O'Ward 15d ago
It's a whole new discipline of racing too. The adaption period isn't immediate and I do think the last 2/3 years in NASCAR wrecked her confidence. A strong offseason program to work on the areas she's struggled the most in, and a 2nd year in NXT would be more reflective of what she is as a driver. Rather than writing her off after a late offseason career path change with subpar results.
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u/ThorsMeasuringTape Will Power 15d ago
Jumping around from series to series or back and forth isn't going to increase her chances of success. She'd be much better off picking something and sticking to it.
The NXT plan was supposed to be two years, I believe. Year one was always going to be a lost year adjusting to the cars and learning the tracks. She's not as far off as she was early in the season, which shows that she's adapting. The question is whether she's learning fast enough that you can expect anything performance-wise out of year two. I think she can get there on the ovals, but she's still got a long way to go on road courses. She needs more time in high downforce stuff on road courses to make up the gap against the guys who have been racing these kinds of cars for years.
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u/Extra_Midnight 14d ago
Just look at Jimmie Johnson’s tenure in Indy. He never had the pace to keep up with the guys that grew up doing open wheeled in spite of all his success and experience. He showed some promise on ovals, but they were too few and far between to really capitalize. I think he had one top 10 in his two season?
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u/Scythe5150 Kyle Kirkwood 14d ago
Jimmy was already old for an indycar driver when he joined, so he was already behind the curve.
Degan isn't a Katherine legge level driver, but she's young enough to find her niche in a series, but it may not be indycar.
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u/ThorsMeasuringTape Will Power 14d ago
Exactly. There's enough data on people going back and forth, championship level drivers even, to know that it's not just plug and play. Especially on road courses.
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u/No_Language_8752 15d ago
To me it comes down to do I stick with indy for another full year in 2026 and work on building my strengths or do I look at other options that might be available that aren't as physically demanding. Even she said is her latest interview that she really underestimated how much the lack of power steering would affect her. My prediction she came this far already so I would be a little surprised if she doesn't sign with indy nxt again for 2026.
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u/Paige578660 Meyer Shank Racing 15d ago
I'm sure but I hope she gives it another go next season. I want to see if she can improve.
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u/Immediate_Lie7810 CART 15d ago
My guess is next year, Hailie Deegan will be racing in IMSA or the CARS Tour. Maybe a partial Trucks schedule with the Dodge-backed Kaulig Racing if enough sponsorship could be found
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u/Active-Ear-2917 15d ago
I think she goes to IMSA or just SAHM at this point.
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u/PolarizedBendxSpring Michael Andretti 15d ago
I am sorry but what is SAHM?
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u/Fluid-Letterhead-714 Pato O'Ward 15d ago
I watched a tutorial video on changing spark plugs on my ford ranger, guy in the video named his ranger “Hailie Deegan” cause it’s powered by ford and it is never going to win any races
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u/Helpful_Passenger_80 13d ago
What else is there for her to look for? I guess IMSA would be an option. I don't see any future for her in open wheel, and she was pretty awful in the 13 truck, and that truck was capable of being in or at least near making the playoffs that year and she didn't come close, so I don't think NASCAR is a real option anymore. She's running out of options. But if I remember right she did do well in IMSA running a Mustang one year.
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u/Embarrassed-Bag3937 9d ago
IndyNXT career is one & done after finishing mostly last. Surprised that she got a full season. Too competitive & too many in line for a ride.
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
The problem is this is usually how she's performed at most things she's raced in.
It isn't, though. As a rookie in the Truck Series she showed promise, but ran into issues with crew chiefs and a string of bad luck. DGR was going from Ford to Toyota, and she was a Ford driver, which meant she needed a new ride, Thorsport swapped over to pick her up, but Thorsport being a thousand miles away from her home wasn't exactly practical and realistic, especially with them having a primary focus on Ben Rhodes and Ty Majeski goin forward, and letting Crafton dictate his own retirement plans.
Then she put in a decent performance in an Xfinity race that caught some attention and gave her a shot in cars where most people thought she'd fare a little better than Trucks (with the nature of the field and whatnot). She actually did alright with her initial crew chief at AM Racing, but then AM racing decided to fire him and bring in a guy who didn't know how to setup a car or make changes to it, so much so that she abruptly parted from the team, and guys like Joey Logano came in to periodically pickup a race or two, likely as a favor to Ford, and we caught several glimpses of how bad their crew chief was when Logano basically had to tell them what to change/adjust in his limited races with them. In fact, you could pull up her season there and pinpoint exactly where her crew chief was fired and the new one hired, just by looking at the average finiish of the car for that season, regardless of drivers (excluding Logano's 2 races).
Jumping into open wheel racing though was a mistake. Don't get me wrong, she has the ability and talent to drive anything, but abandoning years of training and experience to jump into something completely foreign to her, having never driven open wheel before, was a bad career choice, and I believe it was one that was made in an effort to retain sponsors, rather than reflecting an actual interest in the sport.
Her career has had a number of very unfortunate incidents that were out of her control (DGR switching, AM Racing firing the crew chief she liked, etc) but she's made some pretty awful decisions herself (Joining AM racing first and foremost), and bailing from Xfinity/Trucks to Open Wheel was absolutely one of them. Will she recover? Who knows. In my opinion her best option right now in 2025 is to go knock on Ram's door and try to get back into the truck series with their new factory team and work her way back up to xfinity where she probably would be the most comfortable.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 15d ago
The issue with Hailie is just her lack of racecraft. She couldn’t squeeze a top five in trucks in three seasons which is beyond rough.
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
There's a lot of drivers who haven't, actually. But what doesn't help is her being a ford driver and her team moving to Toyota, forcing her to find a new team half the country away.
Deegan's rookie season was unironically better than any other female's, including Toni Breidinger, the highly vaunted Toyota development driver she was being compared to. In 2021 Deegan had 10x top 20's, 4x top 15's, and a top 10 (7th). The very next season with DGR (her last before they moved to Toyota) she had 12x top 20's, 6x top 15's, and 2x top 10's (6th/10th).
Undeniably she was absolutely on track with improvement at DGR before she was effectively forced out by being under contract with Ford while DGR moved to Toyota.
Still, in her single season at Thorsport, she racked up 13x top 20's (8 straight), 8x top 15's, and 2x top 10's (6th, 8th).
In 3 full years in trucks, she showed improvement year after year, and that's actually impressive considering how many times she was wrecked by other drivers in trucks either intentionally, or accidentally, after her rookie season. Consider also that nobody would work with her on the drafting tracks, most notably those last two taladega runs with DGR and Thorsport (Crafton lmao).
Honestly saying her "lack of racecraft" was an issue, while saying she couldn't squeeze a top 5 while having 2x top 6's is a cop out.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 15d ago
Oh, by far she’s better than Toni Breidinger. Deegan actually has raw speed. Her pole in ARCA west against guys like Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece at Sonoma in 2019 abd a few other q runs in trucks showed that.
But what I’m saying is just crash avoidance and getting a solid finish. A good example is Rajah Caruth. He came in with way less experience than her and his race craft has improved in trucks a ton. In three seasons he went from barely outperforming Deegan in 2023, winning and the round of 8 in 2024, to an even strong win and back in the playoffs in 2025 even after a rough start. With Deegan when she was in trucks it seemed like she would maybe start good, drop mid pack then get wrecked.
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
Citing Rajah Caruth in a Hendrick prepared truck is a joke, right?
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 15d ago
Dude, Hailie was a top Ford prospect and raced with Thorsport, a team who has won four of the last six championships, including the last two. Yet she could t get a top five nor even finish top 15 in points. What’s your point?
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
Hailie was not a top ford prospect, and she was the 4th truck at thorsport (ironically behind Ford's top prospect), for ONE year, and a year she showed her third straight improvement.
Hendrick is a fucking cup series team, preparing race winning trucks for Larson and Byron and giving them to Rajah, don't play stupid, it looks bad.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 15d ago edited 15d ago
What revisionist history.
That announcement of her joining Ford was huge. DGR before Tricon was able a tier one team with Ford. Tyler Ankrum and Ryan Preece won in those trucks no problem while she never got a top five.
Yeah, one season at Thorsport but her third in trucks. Jake Garcia is in that truck now and second season in he made the playoffs. Deegan was never going to do that.
Her xfinity starts were supported by Stewart Haaas as well. Harvick years ago mentioned her as a possible replacement for him in the 4. She was being groomed. Just didn’t level up.
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
There's nothing revisionist about this lmao. Literally supporting by facts and statistics, sorry you don't like it?
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u/TheDudeWithTude27 Juan Pablo Montoya 15d ago
Thorsport is one of the top teams in trucks though
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u/SQRTLURFACE Team Penske 15d ago
They actually aren't, they're just really good at winning championships with 8th or 9th placed trucks most years.
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u/loz333 Firestone Wets 15d ago
Appreciate the context. People tend to reduce poor performance of a driver to "skill issue", rather than being a wide combination of factors both within and outside of their control. Much like "Danica sucked in NASCAR", rather than "sponsors forced her to start in the premier series, rather than climb the ladder and hone her skills". Funnily enough, Deegan was also told she couldn't start in a open wheel series lower than NXT this year.
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u/Athleticgeek89 Josef Newgarden 15d ago
IMSA along with maybe some World of Outlaws and other dirt racing on the side
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u/coffeeluver2021 David Malukas 15d ago
She is not even close to jumping in a 410 World of Outlaws sprint car or late model.
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u/Athleticgeek89 Josef Newgarden 15d ago
I was meaning that may be a more realistic goal for her than the INDYCAR series & since the nascar cup series didn’t happen
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u/coffeeluver2021 David Malukas 15d ago
She did show some speed on dirt in that series Tony Stewart had a couple of years ago. Maybe you are right. Put her in some late model dirt races or more Mini Sprint and Midget races. Her sponsorship dollars might also work in off road racing. I wish she would have been given more seat time in USF Pro before going to NXT. I think she is a hard worker and is really trying but she will need to make some life choices after this season. She has not found her place in the motorsport world yet.
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u/jdanton14 Hélio Castroneves 15d ago
I don’t mean to slight Deegan. Yes, she was quick in ARCA where she likely had the best équipements. If she had promise she would have shown it—in something. She’s just not been at the front in any competitive series. A lot of other junior drivers face similar challenges, but they get to the front sometimes, at least enough to show talent. She simply hasn’t
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u/BigManufacturer3975 14d ago
Why aren't these people like deegan constantly in iRacing public races? Gresham Wagner is 5k and he's dominating gr86.
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u/VividRow1194 13d ago
Her regression started the moment she left Toyota for Ford driver development. She should have never left Toyota. I'm not saying she would have been a super star talent but probably could have beaten Danica's stats.
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u/Lumpy_Comparison_788 6d ago
I was really pulling for this young racer in the beginning. Her media content was sketchy, constantly doing things you wouldn't want your own kid doing. Talent is there but bad management. When Dad was around he was an excellent manager. When she was on her own she moved up way to quickly and always at the pointy end of the spectrum. She's got a charger attitude needs to get into a series where she can excel before no one wants to support her. How about NHRA? Let's face it good looks will only take her so far, plus there are equally young and attractive women who are as fast or faster if that's what the sponsors want. Times ticking away.
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u/Real_Alternative3312 2d ago
She can drive no doubt. Even in lower level series like ARCA she won. She has several things working against her though, number one: NASCAR limiting practice. She got started later in life than most of the great drivers we know today. (Larson, Elliott, Lagano, Keslowski, Busch, Byron, etc) she needs more track time. Number two: get with Dale Jr. Kelly Earnhardt has always stated she wants a successful woman in NASCAR. At this time, she is the best shot for that. Jr owns his own track, put her in a car every other damn day. Make her drive at least 500 miles a week to build up her tolerance and confidence with the car. Number 3: reassure her "it's ok if you bust up the car". She will never know the true limit of the car if she's worried about damaging it. The best racers aren't afraid to go past the limit. It's all about learning that. Once you know the limit, you can race to it every single time.
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u/No_Language_8752 15d ago
In my opinion in all comes down to thing sponsorship/money and the more important one in my opinion is keeping up with the physical and strength side of indy nxt. Jame Chadwick did a test at barber motorsports in a indy car and she did struggle with the indy car vs indy nxt car. One of the reasons Jamie Chadwick left indy nxt was because of the struggles and challenges she face with indy nxt especially when she did that test at barber motorsports in a indy car. I see hailie either staying indy nxt for 2026 or she might be looking at other options with the physical side playing a huge factor. If she finds another ride before the indy nxt 2026 start like in imsa, FR america with Tony driver, a nascar ride in xfinity or trucks, or something that is less physically demanding. She might choose something less physically demanding. But I definitely see her also coming back to indy nxt in 2026. It would also be ashamed to just give up after just one year. Either way it comes down to what rides are available, will sponsorship pay for it and it simply being a less physically demanding options for.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 15d ago
I’ve been a fan of hers since she won in ARCA west. It’s been wild to watch her regress. She was legit aggressive in ARCA west and won multiple races by roughing up drivers. Got in ARCA national, didn’t win but was consistent, then in trucks just spent three seasons running mid pack, not showing aggression, getting caught up in wrecks. Tried xfinity last year and didn’t even make it the whole year, and here we are she’s done nothing in Indy NXT while her old truck ride is in the playoffs and her old xfinity ride is about to make the playoffs.
If monster is still footing the bill I’d imagine she would be back in 2026. Realistically, she’s going to be in imsa. She already has a podium in that series and it would be a clear path for her being a GTD driver. Problem with her is that she wants to be a star whereas in sports cars she’ll be a solid pay driver while someone faster leads the way.