Charlotte, NC (AP) – Hailie Deegan left Nascar for open wheel races this season and it could be good.
She was one of NASCAR’s most marketable drivers – she has nearly 5 million followers on GER social media platforms – but did not have the performance or funding to get a leading tour and do advance your career.
Deegan no longer wants to run in the series of trucks and because any opportunity to advance required money that she has not, she has taken another route: Deegan will lead this year for HMD Motorsports to Indy NXT, which is Indycar’s best development series.
No, she has no Indy experience. But she also does not have the means to finance a decision appropriate to the XFINITY series. Deegan tried to go up last year in a multi -year agreement with Am Racing, but she left the team in July after 17 races and a better 12th finish.
She began to attend Indycar races with her new free time last summer and concluded an agreement to drive for one of the best teams from Indy NXT. For the moment, Nascar is in his rear view mirror.
“I am not actively trying to look for a tour or anything, but if a few million dollars fall on my knees, great,” Deegan said on Tuesday. “Same thing for everyone. Few opportunities arise unless you have deep pockets. I think many people do not only realize on the NASCAR side, it’s so crazy. So, if 6 million Dollars to run for a quality xfinity team came from nowhere, I fell from a tree, it is sure that I would.
“But the reality of things is in this economy at the moment, sponsorship and marketing budgets have been reduced. It makes things much more difficult. It is already difficult to find money to race. »»
Its biggest problem is to sell with a guaranteed return on investment. In three full seasons of truck series races, Deegan recorded only five TOP-10 in 69 races. In her time limited to Xfinity, she simply could not compete with the most funded teams.
“It is difficult to say to a sponsor:” You spend a 100 large couple for this race, you will get your value. You can’t promise people, “she said. “It is therefore very hard on this side. Obviously, I would have liked to execute Xfinity full time, but in a good car. The reality is that it takes a lot of sponsorship to do this. »»
So now, she will give a shot to the open wheel and will start an Indy NXT calendar of 14 races in March in the streets of downtown Saint Petersburg, Florida. It has only been tested so far but has found the transition pleasant.
Deegan also recognizes that it plunges into a deep stranger. She had never even went to an Indycar race last year until she attended the event at Iowa Speedway last July, and she also went to Nashville Speedway in September.
Now, she is associated with a development team that has won dozens of races, several NXT and David Malukas advanced, Linus Lundqvist, Benjamin Pedersen, Christian Rasmussen, Nolan Siegel and Kyffin Simpson in Indycar.
“I feel like I have learned so much and go to do so,” said Deegan. “It’s just to try something new. It was a big change, but fun. I know I’m not going to go there and win my first race. I am realistic. I haven’t really set out any goals in finish because I want to see how I do during the first race. I have no idea the way everyone runs. I have no idea of the number of wrecks there will be.
“I don’t know what to expect because everything is so new. I want to be competitive and I really want to see a great progression when I hit the oval. As long as we are constantly progressing on the road lessons, then we arrive at the oval, this is where I think my strong costume will be. »»
___
AP Racing Automatic: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
