On December 15th, 2022 it was announced that Hailie Deegan would be joining ThorSport Racing. Deegan will be driving the number 13 truck for ThorSport for the 2023 season. ThorSport will also be switching manufacturers to Ford. Many fans were thinking that Hailie Deegan would be driving in the Xfinity Series in 2023, possibly in a second Stewart-Haas Racing entry. This option became impossible when Cole Custer was announced as the second SHR driver for the 2023 Xfinity Series season.
Deegan’s 2022 Truck Series season was disappointing to say the least. Many of her fans felt that she would do better in the Xfinity series given her debut finish of 13th. This article will attempt to look ahead into the 2023 season for ThorSport and Hailie Deegan. There are reasons to be optimistic, as well as pessimistic. In this article, we will attempt to look at all possible outcomes.
The Past Couple of Seasons
Before we look ahead, we will look back at the past two seasons at David Gilliland Racing. We knew well before this announcement that Hailie Deegan would not be driving for David Gilliland Racing in 2023. This was due to the fact that DGR had switched manufacturers to Toyota, and Deegan is signed with Ford Performance. David Gilliland Racing is now TRICON Garage.
In 2021, her first full season driving in the truck series, Deegan managed to finish 17th in the final standings. She had an average start of 18.0 and an average finish of 20.9. Furthermore, she finished the year with 1 top 10, 10 top 20s, and only 3 DNFs. Her best finish was that one top 10 at Gateway, which was 7th place.
In 2022, Deegan doubled her top 10 finishes (from the previous season) with 2 for the season. Also she earned a couple more top 20 finishes with 12 for the season. Overall, the 2022 season looks like it would have been an improvement over 2021 if not for the increase in DNFs. This past season Deegan had 7 DNFs, which brought her average finish down to 22.1. Deegan’s average start also fell from 18.0 in 2021 to 20.0 in 2022.
There is a lot of debate regarding the equipment Deegan was driving. While David Gilliland Racing was race winning equipment in 2022, I don’t believe it is a stretch to say that her move to ThorSport Racing is an improvement in equipment. Clearly, ThorSport had a much better year than did David Gilliland Racing. DGR did have two wins in the 2022 season, but ThorSport had two drivers in the championship four. Furthermore, all four drivers for ThorSport finished in the top ten in points. Tanner Gray was the driver which finished highest in the points for DGR. He finished 15th in the final points standings.
Looking Forward
Given Hailie Deegan’s struggles in the truck series and solid performance in her Xfinity series debut, many fans of the sport believed she may end up in said series. Many of those same fans may currently feel that the move to ThorSport is a setback, when compared to their expectations. In all reality, it is a step up, for reasons previously expressed. It may not be the 00 Stewart-Haas Xfinity Series ride, but it is still a drastic improvement over her previous team. We are talking about a truck series team that had 50% of the drivers in the championship four.
While the 00 SHR Xfinity ride should see success with Cole Custer in 2023, this will be its first year back in competition since 2019. Naturally, there are often complications in the first year of competition for a team. When the 00 car (formerly the 44) was brought back in 2017, Cole Custer finished 13th in points and won the final race of the season. The next two seasons, Custer finished 2nd in points. Considering that Stewart-Haas Racing may well need a couple of new drivers in the cup series at the end of 2023 or 2024, the 00 ride may be a future option for Deegan.
The move to ThorSport Racing is not only a good move for Hailie Deegan, but it also solves issues for Ford. Both Ford and Deegan got an upgrade (in terms of team performance) from David Gilliland Racing, which switched to Toyota and became TRICON Garage. Rich Lushes, who won the Truck Series Championship in 2021 with Ben Rhodes, will be her crew chief. Lushes just finished second with Rhodes in the 2022 championship.
ThorSport Racing has a total of four Truck Series Championships. There is the one with Rhodes in 2021, while three of them have come with Matt Crafton (2013, 2014, 2019.) Both Crafton and Rhodes will be teammates to Deegan in the 2023 season. Her third teammate will be Ty Majeski, who finished fourth in the 2022 season. These are teammates that will be there each week from whom she will inevitably learn quite a bit.
Conclusions
While some fans may be disappointed with her remaining in the Truck Series, one cannot think of a better team for her to drive for than ThorSport. This is a team that is competitive on a weekly basis and will have the same drivers at the track each week. ThorSport as a team has a ton of experience and fields very skilled drivers. She will learn quite a bit from these drivers.
Yes, it would have been nice to see her in a Stewart-Haas Racing Xfinity ride. While the Xfinity series seemed to suit her driving style and set of skills, one race is a terrible sample size upon which to gamble one’s future. Furthermore, as much as NASCAR likes to change up their Cup series cars, it would behoove Deegan to get more experience in the Truck Series. Learning to adapt her driving style will be beneficial down the road. She is only 21 years old. There is no rush.
There will always be detractors. This is especially true given that sponsorship money is becoming almost as important to getting a ride in NASCAR as it is in Formula 1. Given the way the world economy is headed these days, I would not expect that to change. It doesn’t matter how much NASCAR changes the cars or the TV deal. More money is always helpful to any team. It is important to remember that a team is also a business.
I have to admit that as a fan of both Deegan and Stewart-Haas Racing, I was hoping for that second SHR car. Now, I must admit that I am more optimistic with this outcome. Hailie Deegan will have her best shot at proving her detractors wrong driving for ThorSport Racing in the 2023 season. It seems to be the right move for both the short term and long term. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Im one who would like her to run away from trucks. If no Xfinity rides, id even like her to go back to ARCA to gain experience. As a sports racer myself, i see no comparison to racing trucks to racing cars. I even hate driving trucks on the street. Shes always seemed to shine in cars. BUT, I can accept trucks for a year or two more for her in a good team. She is the only reason I watch the trucks at all. To me its like going to a car show to see boats.
You definitely make some fair points as far as comparing trucks to cars. I do think ThorSport will be a great opportunity to learn from some great teammates. It’s also a great move for Ford. I do think we will see her full time in the Xfinity series in a year or two. Thanks for reading and commenting.
I’m so glad to see her get picked up by Thorsports ! With Matt Crafton Ben Rhoades and Ty as team mates and the incredible Crew she should be a top 10 truck every week with her driving capabilities !!
I agree with you 100%. Driving for ThorSport and getting to learn from the teammates she will have there will be very beneficial to her. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 13 truck in the top ten on a weekly basis in 2023. Kevin Harvick is good judge of racing talent, and he praised her potential after racing against her in a K&N West race. A lot of the time it’s about putting talent in the right situation. ThorSport is that situation in my opinion.
I have been a Hailie Deegan fan since I first became aware of her 3 or 4 years ago. She not only is a good driver, but an even better person. I too was hoping she’d get picked up in an Infinity Series ride, preferably with JR Motorsports. But with that not working out, I am happy for her getting the chance to advance with ThorSport and Ford. I also hope to see more coverage of her on NASCAR, which I think has been lacking. So here’s to Hailie having a breakout year and contending for the series championship in 2023!!