Hailie Deegan is focused and on the rise
Earlier this year, Kevin Harvick returned to his hometown for a NASCAR home track event. Harvick finished 4th in that K&N West Series event at Bakersfield Speedway.
Following that event, Harvick complimented Hailie Deegan as well as Will Rodgers. Harvick featured both of these drivers on his radio show and helped them find a platform to present their resume to the industry.
A few months later, NASCAR announced their NASCAR Next drivers. Both Deegan and Rodgers are a part of the program.
“I feel like our efforts from a short track side of things are paying off. I don’t think anybody would have known Will Rodgers name if we hadn’t have run the K&N West Series race last year,” Kevin Harvick said from the Charlotte Motor Speedway media center after taking the win in the NASCAR All-Star race.
“I’m proud to be able to bring him on the radio show and talk about him. That’s really the reason that we run those races. When we went to Bakersfield this year — Running around Hailie, she has a lot of potential.”
The 16-year-old racing driver is the daughter of Brian Deegan. Brian is a freestyle motocross rider turned rallycross racing driver. He currently races in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series.
“I talked to Brian [Deegan] here and there. She came to the house and on the radio show as well. Both of those kids have a ton of potential.”
“She just needs to go race. Learn the ins and outs, get with the situations as she moves up and not move too fast. She has the most potential of a female racer because she gets it. She’s very into what she’s doing.”
“It’s not about everything else. It’s really about the race car and how do I drive it faster.”
“Will’s the same way. He just needs an opportunity to show what he’s got.”
“That’s really been our goal when running the K&N races — Is to expose those drivers to good opportunities. I’m just glad that it’s working out for a couple of them.”
Hailie Deegan is the youngest member of the current NASCAR Next class. She is competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season for Bill McAnally Racing. Currently, she sits 6th in the standings with four top-10’s in four starts.
Will Rodgers is another driver that’s also running the NASCAR K&N West Series. He sits 8th in series standings with two top-10’s.
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Links
Kevin Harvick | Hailie Deegan | Will Rodgers | NASCAR
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