On August 10th 2023, Tony Stewart dominated the SRX race at Eldora Speedway. This was not the only story of the night. Hailie Deegan matched her career best SRX finish with a second place finish. This was after having to switch to a backup car after being involved in a wreck during the first heat race. Given all that, it is clear that some fans are once again asking themselves, “Is Hailie Deegan ready for Xfinity?”
The following night Deegan crashed out of the truck series race. Unfortunately, this has been a common occurrence for her in the truck series. Earlier in the season, it really looked like the 2023 season was going to play out differently for her. She matched her career best truck series finish with a 6th place at Texas. This was followed up with a decent run at the Bristol Dirt Race, with a finish of 13th.
Still, as the truck season went on, Deegan continued what has become a pattern of bad luck. In the 12 races since matching her career best truck series finish of 6th, Deegan has finished 20th or worse 8 times. Thankfully, she is racing a full schedule in SRX this season. Tony Stewart’s Superstar Racing Experience has really provided an outlet for Deegan to showcase her skills. Her performance in SRX this year is why many are asking if Hailie Deegan is ready for Xfinity.
“Hailie Deegan is one helluva dirt driver.”
After getting caught up in a wreck in Heat 1, @HailieDeegan hopped in a backup car and drove to a podium finish at @EldoraSpeedway . pic.twitter.com/8Jgr4UtdWV
— Superstar Racing Experience (@SRXracing) August 13, 2023
Hailie Deegan’s 2023 Superstar Racing Experience:
While SRX is far from a carbon copy of the old International Race of Champions (IROC) series, it does very much carry the all-star spirit of that now defunct series. In addition to Deegan, there are 6 other full time drivers in 2023. Tony Stewart, Marco Andretti, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, and Ryan Newman are the other full time competitors. Stewart, Keselowski, and Labonte are all NASCAR Cup series champions. Newman and Schrader are both cup series race winners.
In addition to these full time drivers, SRX also has a list of part time drivers that only add to the overall level of competition. In 2023, cup series champions, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth have all taken part in various SRX races. Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Johnny Benson Jr., Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Greg Biffle, Daniel Suarez, and Denny Hamlin have also participated in races. This isn’t even going into the open-wheel and dirt series drivers who have also competed.
Deegan can Drive:Â
My point is simple. The competition in SRX is top level competition. Furthermore, SRX has successfully achieved what the NASCAR’s “next gen” car was supposed to, and that is parity. The cars are provided by the series and are chosen by random draw. There is a small area in which adjustments can be made. If Hailie Deegan can outrun everyone but Tony Stewart at Eldora in SRX, including drivers who have many Xfinity series wins, then she deserves a shot at Xfinity series in 2024.
Each SRX event has 12 drivers competing. Deegan’s worst finish in her first full time season has been 8th, which happened twice. The other three races she has finished in the top 5. Furthermore, one of those top 5s was a podium finish of 2nd at Eldora. This was in a backup car. She outran SRX points leader Ryan Newman, who finished in 3rd. Deegan was even able to keep up with race winner Tony Stewart to some degree.
There is one more race in the 2023 SRX season. The good news for Deegan is that it is at another dirt track. On August 17th, the season finale will be held at Lucas Oil Speedway. This will provide Deegan another great opportunity to showcase her skill set. Her other podium finish in SRX came back in 2021 at Knoxville Speedway, which was also a dirt race. I would not be surprised to see her finish with another podium finish.
Sooner Rather than Later:
After it was announced that Deegan would be driving the 13 truck for ThorSport Racing in the 2023 truck series, I wrote an article stating that this was the best option for her. This was after the possibility of her driving a second Stewart-Haas Racing Xfinity car was no longer an option. Given her great performance in the SRX series, as well as her continued struggles and bad luck in the truck series, I now believe it would be better for her to get into Xfinity sooner rather than later.
Deegan is a very popular driver, who, as a result, also has a lot of haters. Each season she has been full time in the truck series, she has won the most popular driver award. She has a very good chance at winning that award again in 2023. She did not make the playoffs this year, nor did she the previous two years. There are many fans who may not feel that popularity has been earned. Yet, this is really only applicable when one only looks at the truck series results. In her only Xfinity series race, she finished 13th back in 2022. She consistently does well in SRX. Finally, she did well in IMSA as well, back in February of 2023.
It will not be the end of the world if Deegan is a full time driver at ThorSport in the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series. ThorSport is a top tier team that has speed and is very capable of winning. Still truck series success shouldn’t be considered a prerequisite to driving in the Xfinity series. In a recent Rubbin is Racing podcast, she talked about the differences between the Xfinity series and Truck series as far as driving the vehicles goes.
Conclusions:
Hailie Deegan can clearly drive. The truck series is a very entertaining series with many great drivers in it. NASCAR’s best drivers (in terms of Cup series championships won), did not require truck series success to start off their careers. Yes, two out of three of them, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, didn’t have the option of driving in the truck series to start off their NASCAR national series careers. Jimmie Johnson on the other hand didn’t race in the truck series until 2008 at Bristol, where he finished 34th.
For some reason, many people have started to see success in the Truck series as a prerequisite for a chance in the Xfinity series. The series is just too different, in my opinion, to really stick to that mindset. Unfortunately, when it comes to the money required to run, the Xfinity series is a step up from trucks. Still, truck series success (or lack thereof) is no indicator of future Xfinity success (or lack thereof.)
Hailie Deegan’s performance in SRX in 2023, as well as her Xfinity debut in 2022, has earned her a shot at Xfinity series in 2024. I have to say that seeing her do so well in the orange Haas decaled backup SRX car has me thinking. If Aric Almirola were to retire and Stewart-Haas were to promote one of their current Xfinity drivers to cup, it would be great to see Deegan in either the 00 or the 98. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
I absolutely agree with your assessment!
I absolutely agree with you
Bigger question is does Xfinity run dirt? No and that is where she has shined. She should be driving in a pro dirt series like Lucas Oil dirt cars or WoO dirtcars. Everybody including me says she is not aggressive enough for trucks. Well if true shee probably won’t make it in Xfinity either. Aggression has ramped up.
I also believe she would be a better fit in Xfinity than in trucks.
Yea plz put her in a x – car
Try for 1 year and find out what’s she got !!!
Hailie deserves a shot in a xfinity car. You’ll be surprised how she drives a car. Remember when she won in a arca series car. Tony would be smart to give her the chance in the 00 or 98.
Let’s go Hallie. A SHR Xfinity ride would be totally awesome. It would be great to have Tony as a mentor.
She should drive Case Late Models with the World of Outlaws.