Hailie Deegan Back in the Spotlight Takes on Madison in Next ARCA Start
Fresh off her weekend victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) driver, Hailie Deegan, travels east to rejoin Venturini Motorsports (VMS) for Friday night’s ARCA Menards Series’ Shore Lunch 200 at Madison International Speedway.
Driving VMS’ No.55 Toyota Racing Development 40th Anniversary Toyota, Deegan, 17, prepares to make her third career ARCA start and first on the tight high-banked half-mile surface located just outside Wisconsin’s capital city.
“I’m excited to get back in the ARCA car this weekend with Venturini Motorsports at Madison,” said the native of Temecula, California. “I feel confident in my team and my abilities going into the weekend for my next short track start. But my goals are realistic. ARCA is a new series and there’s still a lot to learn. Our first race at Toledo ended early after getting wrecked so I’m going back with similar goals – log laps, learn as much as I can and shoot for top-five finishes.”
Disappointed with an early exit after getting caught up in another drivers’ actions during her series maiden voyage at Toledo Speedway, Deegan rebounded and impressed in her last ARCA start, scoring a seventh-place finish during her superspeedway debut at Pocono Raceway.
One of the sport’s most compelling driver prospects in the sport today, Deegan etched her name in NASCAR’s record books last year becoming the first female to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series event in over 30-years. She backed up her record-setting performance earlier this season grabbing more headlines after picking up her second career victory at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last Saturday she claimed her third career NASCAR K&N victory with a dramatic last-lap bump and run pass for the win 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 Regional series to win Championships in 2013, 2015, 2016 along with being the only youth ever to win the Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Series Driver of the Year award (2016).
Deegan’s VMS team enters this week’s competition with six series victories out of the first nine events of 2019. The team with 58 all-time series wins has recorded four victories at Madison (Alex Bowman, Kyle Benjamin, Justin Boston and Chandler Smith) since 2011.
Practice for the Shore Lunch 200 at Madison International Speedway is scheduled for 1:15 CDT on Friday, June 14, with General Tire Pole qualifying set for 5pm CDT. The 200-lap event will be televised live on MAVTV starting at 8pm CDT.
Sources: Venturini Motorsports