What started as a typical season for Hailie Deegan has swiftly turned into a new experience for the young driver. Mid-season free agency is no fun for any driver, so what has Hailee been up to?
2024 was going to be a major stepping stone for Deegan. After a few middling years in the Truck Series in decent equipment, Deegan would get a fresh start in a new series.
AM Racing was not at the competitive level of some Xfinity Series programs like Stewart-Haas or Kaulig Racing. However, with former truck champion Brett Moffitt, the team had nine top-tens in 2023.
Deegan was also paired with veteran Crew chief Joe Williams, who had won in the series with Cole Custer in 2022.
However, a rough start to the season for the rookie resulted in one lead-lap finish, a 23rd-place finish at COTA, in five starts. The high of Deegans season would be a career-high finish of 12th at Talladega.
Despite a stretch of lead lap finishes lasting three races, Deegan’s season spiralled. By Nashville, Deegan had just four lead lap finishes and finished outside the top 30 eight times in 16 races.
However, after Nashvillie, a shocking announcement from AM Racing.
Many fans speculated that Deegan wasn’t out permanently. Instead, they mentioned the Chicago street circuit in Grant Park and how Deegan had no experience there. This theory was not necessarily foolproof, but some accepted it as the team and driver had not cut ties.
However, one week later, fans were shocked to learn from Deegan that the pair had indeed parted ways.
In a statement via her X account, Deegan said that the two had parted ways and that “Sadly, our goals no longer align,” making some question about whether this was a mutual or individual decision.
If the latter of the two, whose call was it? Also, what did this mean for Deegan’s future? Does she have a plan?
Shortly after her statement, fans and insiders saw her at the IndyCar race in Iowa.
These reports fueled rumors that the young driver was looking at a future in IndyCar. Even a video of her climbing out of the “two-seater” IndyCar went trending, though Deegan cleared the air shortly after the video was posted.
However, another rumor began circulating after the Haas Factory Team announced it would continue running the Stewart Haas Racing Xfinity program in 2025.
SHR is a Ford team, and considering that Deegan had ties to the team through Ford, many fans’ hopes were crushed when, at Michigan, Gene Haas announced the team lineup to be Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed.
So what’s left for Deegan after a tough few months?
Deegan has not announced her plans for 2025. Some speculate that she could go the open-wheel route, including Indy NXT and potentially IndyCar.
Deegan has a history of karting and dirt racing in open wheel. Her recent YouTube content has not helped these rumors, with Deegan testing an F3 car in just this past week.
While this wouldn’t be a career change for Deegan, it would be a major step. Notably, her statement about AM Racing mentioned that she wanted to focus on “getting back to being competitive.”
Whether outside of NASCAR or not, Deegan is just 21 years old and has shown to have what it takes to progress through stock car racing. Deegan could have seat offers in the Truck Series by name alone. If so, rather than a fresh start, maybe a fresh restart could help.
If Deegan can find a way to get back not a winning but competitive mindset, maybe that driver who was setting the NASCAR world on fire in the late 2010s could make a comeback.
What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Austin Hill is officially slated to run part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series throughout 2026 with Richard Childress Racing.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
This year marks the second season of NASCAR’s groundbreaking 2025 media rights deal, and fans are curious to see just how year two will stack up with year one. This article will walk you through the 2026 season race by race, comparing viewership week by week to NASCAR’s 2025 season.
All Races (4 Total in 2026): Will include all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Points Races (3 Total in 2026): Will only include the season’s 36 points-paying races week-to-week as they occur.
Cable Races to Date (1 Total in 2025): Races on FS1, TNT, and USA | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Network Races to Date (3 Total in 2026): Races on FOX and NBC | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Exhibition/Qualifying Races (2 Total in 2026): This is only applicable to the Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race as they happen.
*The 2025 Daytona 500 was pushed back several hours due to rain.
**The 2026 Daytona 500 was pushed up one hour to avoid inclement weather.
**2026 Clash was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday due to snow, and moved to FS2 due to overrunning time on FOX.
This tracker will be updated throughout the season. Make sure to check back in for the latest!
Joe Gibbs Racing has added to its lawsuit filed against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, filing to add Spire as a co-defendant, and to prevent Gabehart from continuing his work at Spire.
JGR initiated this lawsuit on February 19, alleging Gabehart, a long-time Crew Chief, most recently for Denny Hamlin, and the team’s now former Competition Director, “embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR.”
That direct competitor, Spire Motorsports, which currently employs Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer, is now a co-defendant in this lawsuit, via an amended complaint filed Tuesday.
Per the latest filing from JGR, which employed Gabehart as Competition Director last season, is asking the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction with seven key requests.
Key to these requests is that Gabehardt cease providing Spire with “services for Spire similar to those he provided to JGR” for 18 months following his February 9 formal termination from JGR.
JGR also requested that Spire stop accepting Gabehart’s work as per the noncompete obligation of his termination.
The filing also has several requests regarding the team information Gabehart allegedly retained from JGR.
These include Gabehart returning this information alongside the devices that store this information and “cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.”
From JGR’s filing:
c. Gabehart immediately cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets
d. Gabehart return any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets in his possession to JGR;
e. Gabehart transfer to the custody of JGR’s counsel any device used to store the Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and, through an agreed upon Court ordered process, allow the forensic preservation and review of these devices for identification of Confidential Information and Trade Secrets, the return of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to JGR, and the removal of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets from the devices;
f. Gabehart cease and desist from using or disclosing JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to third parties;
As of press time, Gabehart has commented on the lawsuit in a post to X on February 20, where he claimed a third-party investigator “examined my laptop, cell phone and personal Google Drive and found no evidence to support the baseless allegations in JGR’s lawsuit.”
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, alleging he took confidential team information…
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