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Hailie Deegan is closing out her first full-time season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and she has already made history by becoming the first female Truck Series driver to finish top-10 at a track other than Daytona International Speedway. However, she has explained that she “still has a lot more to accomplish” before calling herself a success.
Deegan made the comments during an appearance on “Pasture Thoughts,” a YouTube show created by GMS Racing driver Tyler Ankrum. He asked his peer if she considered herself to be a success after racking up 1.1 million followers on Instagram — more than twice the number following Chase Elliott or Kyle Busch — and making Truck Series history.
“I would say that I’ve had successful moments, I’m not to where I want to be yet,” Deegan told Ankrum. “I still have a lot more to accomplish. I’m very goal-driven. When I have a goal in my mind, everything I do is to accomplish that. It’s something that I take into my career and what I do every single day.”
Deegan continued and explained that this approach benefits her as she focuses on all aspects of her life, whether it is racing, YouTube, or anything else. She writes her goals down and then focuses on knocking out each step to accomplish both short and long-term goals.
Deegan Made History at World Wide Technology Raceway
The driver of the No. 1 David Gilliland Racing Ford F-150 made NASCAR history during the playoff-opening race at World Wide Technology Raceway. She started 20th overall, behind the playoff drivers, but raced her way to a top-10 finish.
Deegan was within reach of a 10th-place finish in the closing laps of the playoff race, but she made moves late to lock up seventh. Specifically, she avoided a collision between the No. 17 of Taylor Gray and the No. 40 of Ryan Truex that knocked them both out of the pack.
According to “Jayski,” the three other female Truck Series drivers to post top-10 finishes are Jennifer Jo Cobb, Natalie Decker, and Angela Ruch. However, they all achieved this goal at Daytona International Speedway.
Cobb was the first to post a top-10 finish. She finished sixth overall in the 2011 season-opening race while Michael Waltrip reached Victory Lane. Ruch kicked off the 2019 season with an eighth-place run in which she avoided the numerous wrecks that brought out 11 cautions and sent all but nine drivers to the garage. Decker rounded out the group at the season-opening 2020 race with a fifth-place finish — the highest-ever finish for a female driver in Truck Series history.
1 of Deegan’s Goals is To Return to the Truck Series in 2022
Deegan still has a lot more to accomplish in NASCAR, including winning her first career race. Part of accomplishing this goal is returning to a national series and competing on a full-time basis while adding more sponsors to the fold.
Deegan explained to Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal in early August that her intention is to return full-time to the Truck Series in 2022. She wants to run a full schedule while also making some Xfinity Series starts at some point. Additionally, she wants to compete in the Camping World SRX Series after making three starts in 2021.
“My hope is to race full-time trucks, and that’s kind of the plan right now whether we’re fully funded or not. That’s my goal,” Deegan told Stern. “The hope or the dream would be to race a few Xfinity races by the end of the year to get our feet wet because that’s obviously where I want to go in the future.”
Deegan has yet to fully announce her official plans for the 2022 season, but she recently partnered with NASCAR for a major reveal video on September 23. She drove the 2022 Ford F-150 that features significant changes to the body.
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