Hailie Deegan to race Xfinity Series full-time in 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BVM) – One of NASCAR’s most popular drivers regardless of level is set to join the Xfinity Series in 2024. Hailie Deegan, who has spent the past three seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series, will join AM Racing as part of its Xfinity Series team in 2024 after agreeing to a multi-year contract. Deegan will drive the No. 15 Ford next season.
“I think this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” Deegan said during a press conference. “I probably never would’ve been able to race the Xfinity Series full-time if it wasn’t for [AM Racing president] Wade [Moore], AM Racing and everyone at Ford sticking behind me.”
Happy to have you, @HailieDeegan!
It’s going to be a great 2024, we know you’re ready. #NamesAreMadeHere pic.twitter.com/n1vO8WfOa7
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 5, 2023
Deegan has had a number of successes at various levels of racing. After joining the Ford driver development program in December 2019, Deegan quickly rose to prominence as she recorded seven top-five and 17 top-10 finishes overall earning a third-place finish in championship points and the highest position by a female driver in the ARCA Menards Series division in 2020. This allowed her to win ARCA Rookie of the Year honors.
Following her success in the developmental series, Deegan spent two seasons at David Gilliland Racing (now TRICON Garage) where she had three top 10s in 46 starts before moving to Ohio’s ThorSport Racing in 2023. This season, Deegan recorded two top-10 finishes, including a career-best sixth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April, and led for two laps in 21 races.
While Deegan becomes the first full-time female driver in the Xfinity Series since Danica Patrick in 2012, she does have some experience at the level after driving a Bobby Dotter-owned SS GreenLight Racing entry to 13th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last fall.
“I’ve obviously had the one Xfinity race at Vegas and it went pretty good,” Deegan said. “There are a lot of new tracks that I haven’t been to either in a while or I’m going there for the first time. I think there will definitely be a learning curve and I’m really glad that Wade saw forward of being able to grow together as a team and me as a driver. I think we’re going to accomplish a lot of great things together and just take it one step at a time.”
Ready to make her #XfinitySeries story.@HailieDeegan will be the first female to compete full-time since 2012. pic.twitter.com/tBJCWvvoZp
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 5, 2023
In just its second year in the Xfinity Series, AM Racing has made perhaps the biggest splash at the level by bringing in Deegan. The 22-year-old has a ravenous fanbase including 1.4 million followers on Instagram, 908K followers on Facebook and 104.4K followers on Twitter/X. This helped Deegan earn back-to-back Most Popular Driver in the Truck Series awards in 2021 and 2022, becoming the first woman in the Truck Series to win the award and the second woman to ever win a Most Popular Driver award, joining Patrick who won the award in the Xfinity Series in 2012.
Given her popularity and success in the Truck Series, expect only big things to come for Deegan and AM Racing in the future.
“Through the support of Ford and the AM Racing team, I feel that we will achieve great things together in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and I can’t wait to see what the next few years have in store for all of us,” Deegan said in a press release.
