Getty Hailie Deegan prepares for a race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The Camping World Truck Series drivers took on Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the first time on July 9. Hailie Deegan used this road course race to join a historic list with a 10th-place finish.
The driver of the No. 1 David Gilliland Racing Ford F-150 secured her first top-10 finish of the 2022 season, and she became the first female driver to achieve this goal at a road course since the 1994 season. Shawna Robinson was the last to do so with a 10th-place finish at Watkins Glen International while driving for Ferree Racing.
While Deegan joined Robinson on the elite list, she made history in her own way. She became the first female driver to secure top-10 finishes at two different tracks in the Camping World Truck Series.
Deegan is also the first female driver to secure a top-10 finish on a road course in the Camping World Truck Series. Natalie Decker, Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Angela Ruch are the only other female drivers to score a top-10 in the Truck Series, but they all did so at Daytona International Speedway.
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Deegan Registered Her First Top-10 as a Rookie
GettyHailie Deegan posted a top-10 finish at WWTR.
The California native’s top-10 finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was not her first in the Truck Series. She actually cracked the top 10 for the first time during her rookie campaign in 2021.
Deegan drove full-time for David Gilliland Racing during the 2021 season, and she gained experience at all of the tracks without the benefit of practice or qualifying. This includes the August 20 trip to World Wide Technology Raceway, which kicked off the playoffs and featured a long power outage.
Deegan only started 19th for the Truck Series race after NASCAR officials set the field with its starting lineup formula. She spent the first two stages in the top 20 before starting to make her push toward the top 10 during the final run to the checkered flag. She ultimately moved up to seventh overall after late contact between Ryan Truex and Taylor Gray knocked them out of the top 10.
This Top-10 Finish Was a Major Turnaround for Deegan
GettyHailie Deegan’s 2022 campaign has featured numerous struggles.
The 2021 season featured Deegan posting one top-10 finish before she ended the schedule 17th in the championship standings. She won the Most Popular Driver award for the Truck Series and raised expectations for her second full-time season.
The 2022 season has not played out as Deegan or DGR expected. She has failed to finish five of the first 14 races due to crashes and a fire where the pit crew had to pull her from the cockpit of the No. 1 Ford F-150. Deegan was also caught up in other incidents during races she completed.
Deegan is now 22nd in points after her first top-10 finish of the year, and she is well below the playoff cutline with one race remaining in the regular season. Making the playoffs is a longshot given that Deegan would have to win and move her way into the top 20 in points during this final race. However, she will have the opportunity to build upon this race at Mid-Ohio in the remaining 2022 races.