Hailie Deegan’s NASCAR Truck struggles continue; ‘Not the first time she’s wrecked me’

Ten races remain in the 23-race Craftsman Truck Series, and that’s enough time to turn a corner and gain ground on a new narrative.

But past midway into her third full-time Truck Series season, things haven’t improved for Hailie Deegan. And that’s too bad, considering how much rooting interest is involved and how much Ford’s racing division has invested in the young Californian, who turns 22 in July.

A season with several rough and below-par outings received another jolt this past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, where Deegan lost control of her No. 13 Ford pickup in the early laps and, shortly thereafter, received a less than flattering critique from Lawless Alan.

Yep, Lawless Alan.

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Deegan’s truck remained intact enough for her to limp it home four laps down in 28th place, out of 36 starters.

The same can’t be said for the other young California racer, Lawless Alan, who so far is more known for his cool name than his results. Alan finished last after he was taken out by Deegan’s Lap 7 spin.

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Deegan went hard into Turn 4, using the low lane, with Alan one groove up. She appeared to nudge the flat apron just below the racing surface, and the rear-end of her truck broke loose and sent her up, into Alan’s No. 45 Chevy.

Deegan went on her team radio and apologized for letting her truck get loose and out of control — “I’m sorry. I got free on the inside.”

Alan, a third-year Truck Series driver, made his mandatory trip to the infield care center and then calmly, but rather bluntly, explained his view of the accident and his opinion of his fellow racer.

“She’s talentless and just sailed it off in there and wrecked me,” Alan told Frontstretch.com. “Not the first time she’s wrecked me. She does it to (effing) everybody.”

This was supposed to be a season of improved results for Deegan, who this year moved to a top-tier Truck Series team, ThorSport Racing, which has four series championship trophies on the mantel. But she has just one top-10 finish, and her average starting spot (18.1) and finish (21.5) are roughly the same as they were the past two seasons with David Gilliland Racing.

Assuming there were some positive on-track results, conventional wisdom had Deegan advancing to NASCAR’s Xfinity Series this season, her third full-time year in one of NASCAR’s three national touring series. But after last season, some scrambling among drivers, teams and manufacturers ended without a Ford seat available for Deegan in Xfinity, though the upper-rung seat at ThorSport opened up.

Deegan came to NASCAR with solid credentials. In 2020, she finished third in points in the ARCA Series, without a win but with 17 top-10s in 20 starts. In the two years prior to that, in NASCAR’s K&N West Series, she had three wins and 23 top-10s in 28 starts.

She made one Xfinity Series start last year, finishing a very respectable 13th at Las Vegas in, presumably, mid-pack equipment. Whether she gets further opportunities in Xfinity, and eventually beyond, might hinge on turning things around with her final 10 Truck Series starts this year.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Hailie Deegan wrecks, gets critiqued; it rhymes with Truckin’