Hailie Deegan Invades Indianapolis for First Start at Lucas Oil Raceway
Toyota Racing Developments (TRD) Hailie Deegan returns to the ARCA Menards Series set to make her fifth start of the season driving Venturini Motorsports’ (VMS) No.55 TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota Camry under the lights on Saturday, October 5 in the Herr’s Potato Chip 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Already with two career ARCA top-10 finishes (Pocono Raceway and Elko Speedway) to her credit, Hailie continues to develop her raw talent and expand her personal expectations competing in the series.
“I’m excited to get back in the ARCA car this weekend and race a new track,” said the 18-year old. “We made the transition to the series earlier in the year and I think we’ve had some decent success so far. At this point, it’s all about gaining experience and continuing to get better each time out.
“There’s a lot of good cars at the top of the field in the series including three of my Venturini Motorsports teammates. I’ve got a lot of confidence right now. Last week we had a really good test. Lucas Oil (Raceway) reminds me of tracks like Evergreen and Irwindale out west – kinda gives me a good baseline going into this weekend’s race. There’s no reason we can’t expect to run top-five.”
On and off the track Hailie is one of racing’s most compelling personalities in the sport today, despite not yet competing in any of NASCAR’s top-three national series, last month the Sports Business Journal reported Deegan ranked No.3 (behind Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson) out of all NASCAR drivers in social media value this year, and ranks No.1 overall in total engagement.
Hailie, who’s currently competing for the 2019 K&N Pro Series West championship, etched her name in NASCAR’s record book last year becoming the first female to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series event in over 30-years. The Temecula, California native backed up her record-setting performance earning two more wins this season at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas and a dramatic win back in June 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 the regional series to win championships in 2013, 2015 and 2016 along with being the youth ever to win the Lucas Off-Road Pro Series Driver of the Year award (2016).
Hailie will join VMS teammates Michael Self, Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith for Saturday night’s Herr’s Potato Chip 200 race at Lucas Oil Raceway. MAVTV will broadcast the 200-lap main event live starting at 8pm ET.
Sources: Venturini Motorsports PR