Hailie Deegan is paying homage to Dale Earnhardt Sr. for the race at Darlington this weekend. The 22-year-old NASCAR driver went to FS1’s NASCAR Race Hub on Wednesday to unveil her car for the race, which is similar to the scheme of the Wrangler No. 15 that Earnhardt ran in 1982.
“I think it looks great,” Deegan said on the show. “Super Super excited to announce that. I just think it came out amazing.
Deegan went on to explain why she went with the Earnhardt paint scheme. “With it being the 15 and me being No. 15, me and my team owner texted back and forth on it some ideas,” she said. “When he sent that one, I said, ‘Oh I think we gotta go with that one. I think that’s going to look great. It will all be very put together and look awesome.'”
Hailie Deegan working hard with AM Racing
Deegan will compete in the Xfinity race at Darlington on Saturday. She is driving in the Xfinity series full-time this season, signing a contract with AM Racing in October of last year.
“I am excited about the opportunity to compete full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, starting next year with AM Racing,” Deegan said in a press release at the time. “From the start, the team has been nothing but great to work with, and the vision that Wade (Moore, team president) has for the team to accomplish align with my values perfectly. Through the support of Ford and the AM Racing team, I feel that we will achieve great things together in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“We are excited to see Hailie continuing to advance her career by running full-time with AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2024,” Mark Rushbrook, global director Ford Performance Motorsports, said in a statement.
“Hailie works so hard on and off the track, and AM Racing will surround her with a great team to continue her development. From what we saw from Hailie in her Xfinity Series debut in Las Vegas last year, we look forward to some great results in 2024.”
Deegan has competed in 10 Xfinity Series races this season and has yet to earn a top-10 or top-five finish. She is currently in 26th place and dropped two spots from last week. Before joining the Xfinity series, Deegan competed in the Truck Series full-time in 2022 and earned two top-five finishes that year.
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