To say Hailie Deegan’s racing career has been tumultuous would be an understatement.
The 24-year-old from Temecula, Calif., was thought to be one of NASCAR’s next big stars when she was a teenager. Deegan won three races in the ARCA Menards Series West in 2018-19 before moving up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series full-time in 2021.
However, the rest of her first tenure in stock-car racing didn’t work out. Deegan failed to finish better than 17th in the Truck Series standings in three seasons, despite racing for a championship-winning organization in ThorSport Racing in 2023. Her lone NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign in 2024 was cut short halfway through the season after Deegan compiled an average finish of 26.8 in 17 races.
That led Deegan to open-wheel racing. In 2025, she competed in the Indy NXT Series – the feeder series for IndyCar – and finished second-to-last in the standings among drivers who completed all 14 races.
Hailie Deegan returning to stock car racing in 2026
That long and winding career path has led Deegan back to the series she cut her teeth in for 2026: the ARCA Menards Series West, where she’ll be reunited with Bill McAnally Racing in pursuit of an ARCA West title.