Early on in this race we already have our first big wreck. JJ Yeley and Hailie Deegan took the worst of the incident at Dover. However, it all began with a move from Dawson Cram who has been on the wrong side of these NASCAR wrecks lately.
While the video didn’t capture the entirety of the moment, Cram was called out by JJ Yeley on the phone. Hailie Deegan ended up with damage to her front left fender. Miles the Monster was hungry this afternoon.
Yeley is done for the day, he slid down the frontstretch and then went into the outside wall with a huge rear end collision. Tough result for Deegan and Yeley.
“To get wrecked in somebody else’s mistake Lap 5 is not why I was here,” Yeley said after leaving the care center.
Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports asked him if it was a mistake from Cram or more than that.
“Or stupidity. I followed him from the start he was having a hard time holding his lane. His race track awareness isn’t there. If he has to rely on his spotter to know where cars are, he just doesn’t as a racecar driver.
“So, you know, he clearly could see the 15 was where she was at. We were early in the race, she was dropping like an anchor so why he would try to force a situation like that, take out a couple of race cars, it’s not his first time doing it. At some point he’ll figure it out or somebody will figure it out for him.”
So, a tough end to Dover for JJ Yeley. Meanwhile, Hailie Deegan is going to try to get her damaged car to the finish.
Hailie Deegan needs better finishes soon
Things have not gone great for Hailie Deegan in this first season with AM Racing in the Xfinity Series. She is a rookie, so there is a little bit of leeway there. However, with only two top-15 finishes this season, there needs to be more from her.
I’m not sure if it is an equipment issue or driver issue. Likely a little bit of both. Last season in the 25 car for AM Racing, Brett Moffitt posted a couple handfuls of top-10s and a season-best P4 finish at Chicago.
However, there were many weeks where that car and this AM Racing team didn’t have speed last season. I would really like to see this 15 car come off the hauler with some speed soon and see what Deegan can do.
Even when Hailie Deegan runs well, she likes to hang out near the back of the pack before making moves. That kind of racing also gets her involved in messes like today. From the words Yeley had, it sounds like her car lacked speed overall.
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