Hailie Deegan Hints At NASCAR Return After Abrupt Indy NXT Move

Hailie Deegan has left the door open for a return to NASCAR after her abrupt exit from AM Racing in 2024. Following her replacement in the team, she later confirmed that she was making the move to Indy NXT in 2025.

Throughout her racing career, Deegan has shown her versatility across different racing domains. Starting her racing journey in go-karts, she later moved up to the challenges of stock car racing with performances in the NASCAR Truck Series and even a stint in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Over the years, Deegan has earned a reputation in various racing series, including the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.

Whilst speaking to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Deegan opened up on her upcoming move, stating:

“For me when it comes to racing, I like all racing. I grew up go-karting and when the opportunity kind of arose to get in an open-wheel car.

“I took it, I fell in love with it, and really, I’ve always loved road course racing and I always felt like I had some of my stronger runs on road courses in the past. So, being able to go back to that is really key for me.”

Financial aspects also played a significant role in Deegan’s decision to switch racing formats. Sponsorships in NASCAR turned out to be a considerable hurdle. The hope is that in Indy NXT the financial dynamics might be more favorable for sustaining a competitive program without the intense pressure of sponsorship deals.

Despite the upcoming move, Deegan has kept the door open for a return to NASCAR. She added:

“I mean, I wouldn’t say my NASCAR days are done. I think if there’s an opportunity, if someone wants to pay for a ride, yeah, I’ll do it.

“But now it’s too much money for a lot of sponsors to put to the table and that’s something that was kind of a big factor for me.

“It’s hard to get sponsor money, it’s hard to get to that number of sponsor money. I think on this side of things when the opportunity came up, I just took it.”

Deegan is teaming up with Sophia Floersch, a 24-year-old German driver who has excelled in endurance races and Formula 3.

The former NASCAR driver previously stated about her NASCAR exit, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:

“About two weeks after I stopped on the Xfinity side, I was really — like I didn’t really linger very much.

“I was like, ‘OK, what’s next?’ What are we working towards next? Let’s make our goals. What are we looking like budget wise and what are we looking sponsor budget wise? How are we looking for different options?

“Just kind of seeing and weighing out the pros and cons of everything. And that’s when I was like, ‘You know what, I feel like I’m decent friends with a few guys in the IndyCar scene and people I used to race in IndyCar.’

“I kind of was just poking around, talking a little bit. A few people that like I grew up go-karting with and like just kind of asking questions and seeing it out. I was like, ‘Let’s go to the IndyCar race at Iowa. Let’s go check it out. Why not.’ Just kind of to see what it’s all about and when we started weighing out me as a driver, like my pros and cons [and] my best qualities in my driving are.

“Like, I like high grip stuff. I like places, tracks here are wide open a lot. I love road courses. Besides this past year, some of my best runs have been on road courses and best overall. Best qualifying and all that. The IMSA stuff on top of that, I did good on that side. So, I was like, ‘Man, maybe we should really look at this avenue.'”