Truck Series driver Hailie Deegan is expecting to run for a few Xfinity Series races in the 2023 season.
The driver recently signed up for ThorSport Racing in the Truck Series where she will be hoping to make the playoffs. However, she doesn’t want her year to be limited to just the Truck Series and is looking to run some races in the Xfinity Series as well.
“I’ll look for opportunities to go do a few Xfinity races,” Deegan said. “Obviously, nothing full-time is gonna come up, but I think that being able to go and do a few Xfinity races would definitely be awesome.
“It just depends on funding and sponsors and kind of what’s going on and what comes to the table throughout the year that could decide those Xfinity races.”
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Deegan made an impressive Xfinity Series debut in the 2022 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where she finished 13th. She planned to move full-time in the Xfinity Series but nothing came to fruition. Nonetheless, she is back in the Truck Series for her third full-time season there.
She could make the move to ThorSport Racing after they made a return to Ford Performance. While the quality of the team was important for Deegan, the atmosphere the team provided served as a decisive factor for her to choose the team.
“I think whether the option came up to do Xfinity or Trucks for this being my third year, I would say wherever I ended up I just wanted to be in a quality place,” Deegan said. “I just wanted to be somewhere where I truly felt I was around the most quality equipment, people, and quality of people who care about my racing.
“I think that’s a huge thing that I’m already feeling here at ThorSport is just accepted. It feels like a family environment. You kind of get that small team, family vibe, but on a big scale of a super successful team, and I’d say that’s the same thing you feel with Ford. They are a massive company with so many different departments, but you do feel like you have that small company family, very close-knit in between that.”
As Deegan said, her option to run Xfinity races will depend on funding and sponsors. Another limiting factor is that Ford Performance entries aren’t in abundance in the Xfinity Series. Nonetheless, something might come up for her as the season progresses.