Hailie Deegan has made her mark since arriving to race full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2021. It may not be in the form of results on track, but she has some Most Popular Driver Awards which reveal that it is not just about performance but also about personality.
His millions of followers on social networks carry weight. Recently, the 21-year-old driver appeared on a podcast on the Monster Energy YouTube channel, where she spoke about a variety of topics, including life as a competitor and what it means to be the only woman racing trucks full-time. THE ThorSport Race The driver also brought up a topic again and again that NASCAR executives won’t like to hear: drivers’ lack of personality.
What do Cup Series drivers think?
Hailie Deegan didn’t feel welcome in NASCAR
Hailie Deegan is a racer at heart, but comes from a radically different discipline to motorsport, as the daughter of freestyle motocross legend Brian Deegan. She is in the third year of her NASCAR Truck Series career, which was preceded by three combined years in the ARCA Menard’s and K&N Pro Series.
It is relatively new in stock car circles, and upon its appearance on the Unchained podcast, shared how awkward it’s been since his arrival.
“I never looked at myself differently growing up. I thought it was cool. I was a running girl,” Deegan said. “It didn’t matter. I was friends with all the male racers and I think that was a big change for me coming into the stock car world. I feel like everyone on the dirt track was my friend. I could easily be friends with everyone.
“And now, like in the stock car world, everyone is so uptight and so worried about someone else taking their place or whatever. I don’t even really hang out with the stock people- because, and I don’t talk to them either. I just do my own thing. It’s very different.”
Deegan repeatedly calls out NASCAR drivers for their lack of personality
Suggesting that those in the NASCAR industry are stuck was not inflammatory enough. Deegan had other things in mind. She spoke about the departures of what she described as the sport’s “heavy hitters,” like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.and how the sport has had little personality since their departure.
“It’s just new faces,” Deegan said. “And I think that’s one of the biggest problems in NASCAR right now. Back then, every big hitter on there had a personality. You loved them for a reason. Now fans don’t even know any reasons to like someone. Like yeah, their car looks cool because they have no personality – at least. It’s like at that point you might as well be talking to a brick wall instead of having a conversation.
A brick wall? Really? When asked if she could identify a specific reason why today’s drivers aren’t showing more personality, the driver of truck No. 13 had a sensible answer.
“I think we need to be a little more politically correct now. Maybe a little more,” she laughed. “There are many more companies and partners involved. The times have changed. That’s something that has greatly affected the world of NASCAR is that drivers are able to fully express their personality without having problems with their sponsor saying, “Oh, we didn’t really like the car.” how you acted there or what you said there,” and that can’t be that crazy. This might be something not so bad that people said all the time 10-20 years ago.
A few minutes later, she talked about Formula 1’s Drive to Survive and how she really enjoys the Netflix docuseries and its interesting characters, something she said would be difficult to replicate with NASCAR because, you you guessed it, lack of personality.
“In the world of stock car racing, it’s difficult because it’s difficult to have cameras nearby all the time,” she said. “Each team is trying to find the next step above the other team. The drivers lack a bit of personality. You can probably name every driver with personality on one side. It would be difficult to build such an interesting show from this one.
Cup Series drivers have their own opinions
Last weekend at Circuit of the Americas, several Cup Series drivers were asked if they thought NASCAR lacked personality. They each offered their own answers, many of which were strikingly similar to Deegan’s.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a shortage. I feel like some guys don’t show them,” Chase Briscoe suggested. “I think everyone definitely has one here. I think we really got into this mindset a few years ago where you had to be this certain type of person. A very corporate America.
Corey LaJoie has some personality as NASCAR fans saw in his weekly Stack coins podcast. He disagrees with Deegan that NASCAR lacks personality, but says it’s more measured for a reason the truck driver mentioned.
“Everyone has a personality. It’s just about having the opportunity to show it. You see Drive to survive is blowing up on Netflix,” he said. “I would say our sport has a lot more driver personality than F1. These guys, they don’t do much for you, but you find yourself rooting for certain storylines. And we have 35 scenarios that are way better than these guys.
“That shows how much the sport depends on sponsors paying for the tires on the car to keep the thing moving. You can’t afford to put yourself out there too much and show too much personality and have someone disagree with it or cancel you. Everyone lowers this setting a little more just to protect themselves and their partner. Once the business model changes and teams hire drivers based on ability and market value, things like that, I think you’ll see more personality emerge.
The new TV contract begins in 2025. Teams should have more money and be less dependent on sponsors. Could this lead to more personalities being revealed and a change of heart for Deegan?
We will see.
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