Fans Cut Hailie Deegan No Slack Despite Her Cryptically Hinting to a Painful NASCAR Exit (2024)

Two-time Truck Series MPDHailie Deegan hasn’t exactly been the most popular in her rookie Xfinity Series season yet. Whenever that #15 AM Racing Ford made its way onto the screens, it definitely got the conversations rolling, albeit not too positively most times. However, as per recent developments, the Temecula, CA, native has once again caused a negative stir in the NASCAR community. But the circ*mstances are certainly heartbreaking for many reasons.

Is Hailie Deegan’s AM Racing ride disappearing for good after Xfinity Chicago?

On July 1, news broke that the Nashville race winner, Joey Logano, would be wheeling AM Racing’s #15 at the Loop 110 Chicago Street Race for an appearance, replacing Hailie Deegan. An official statement from team president Wade Moore read, “The level of competition in the Xfinity Series is as competitive as it’s ever been. It is our goal at AM Racing to field a competitive race team through our technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing and provide any of our drivers the best equipment and opportunity to be successful on track each weekend.”

The statement also indicated that one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Xfinity allies did not enjoy the success they “were hoping for in the first half of the season.” And that Joey Logano’s feedback would be crucial for them to provide for the car as well as the team’s “growth.” But in a more recent regard, the huge missing factor amidst all these developments, Hailie Deegan, took some concerning actions online.

In an emphatic report, Dave Green, also known as NASCAR Prophecy on X, wrote, “Hailie Deegan has removed AM racing from her Twitter bio. I don’t know if she’s upset about Joey Logano racing her car this weekend or they are going their separate ways.” The Team Penske star will be the third driver to drive an AM Racing car in the Xfinity Series. Last year, Brett Moffitt drove his first-ever #25 Ford to 17th in the points standings with a best finish of P4 at the Xfinity Chicago Street Race. And how does Logano’s run help Deegan? ‘In no way’ is the answer.

Bob Pockrass’ tweet on July 2 revealed that “Deegan would not be eligible to make the playoffs if she misses Chicago. A waiver wouldn’t be given in this instance. And because Logano is a Cup driver, a win wouldn’t get the team in the owners playoffs (but they do get owner points, which is important for owner standings).”

More importantly, this season has been what some would call Hailie Deegan’s ‘own worst enemy.’ She plowed off her advances with a DNF at the Daytona Xfinity Series season opener. In the next 17 races, she ended her race early another 2 times, at Phoenix and Darlington. Her best finish this season has, unfortunately, been an average P15 at Xfinity Talladega.

Add to that the many controversies and confrontations, like the one with Lawless Alan at Martinsville last year, and fans haven’t been the most empathetic to Deegan amidst her disappointing fortunes.

As Deegan has been “the quietest she’s been,” her struggles sparked an online firestorm

Although Joey Logano recently told Dale Earnhardt Jr on the latter’s podcast that AM Racing had come to him with the bearings that a seat for the #15 was “going to open up,” a total termination of Hailie Deegan’s contract is still unconfirmed. If the fallout is the by-product of some simmering tensions, that is also unclear.

Nevertheless, those comments by the Team Penske driver were duly emphasized by a member of the NASCAR community on Green’s post, as they wrote, “Joey Logano said on the Jr Download that AM Racing called him and said a seat has opened up. Didn’t sound like they meant 1 race.”

But the tweetstorm also reached the NASCAR subreddit by this point, and those comments were equally controversial, even by the standards normally assigned to Hailie Deegan fan discontent. One Redditor shared, “At this point, Nashville was probably Deegan’s final race for AM Racing, considering her lack of results this season.” At Nashville, Deegan finished 28th. In the 4 races prior to that, the #15 car’s best was a P25 in Iowa. That was despite 12 drivers DNF-ing.

Another observed that “this is the quietest she’s been,” contrary to Deegan’s loud social media personality. Back in 2019, when she wasn’t even running a national series in NASCAR, Deegan already had the 5th-highest social media value. Since making it to the big stage, she’s garnered one of the biggest followings among female athletes globally. But since her move to remove AM Racing from her bio, she’s not even active.

Another user wrote, “The Xfinity cars just really aren’t suited to her driving style 😕,” to which one user replied, “Neither were the trucks.” Deegan drove full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 2021 to 2023; in that time, she secured only 5 top-10s in 67 starts. However, she did do well in the lower levels. From 2018 to 2019, she ran full-time in the ARCA Menards Series West, winning 3 races.

Seeing as she’s not replicated any of the early promise she showed in her career during her stint in the Xfinity Series, the backlash kept piling on Deegan as this fan opined that Deegan “should try Uber.” But one message was truly eye-catching, as it aimed to provide a contingency “plan” for Deegan, similar to the one helping her fellow female NASCAR driver Natalie Decker with DGM Racing.

As the comment suggested, “She needs to go on the Natalie Decker plan. Find a decent mid-pack team to run a few races with per year at tracks where she could likely succeed at.” With these disheartening developments for Hailie Deegan arriving right before the second annual Xfinity Chicago Street Race, do you think Joey Logano could light up the mood a little for AM Racing? Let us know in the comments below.