As the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series opened the Round of 8 at Kansas Speedway, many wandering eyes were locked elsewhere during the race.
While Brett Moffit punched his ticket to the Championship 4, Hailie Deegan made her Truck Series debut, and brought the No. 17 F-150 home 16th. The finish officially breaks the record for highest finishing female debut in the series, first set by Johanna Long in 2010 at 17th.
Deegan talked to FOX Sports’ Alan Cavanna immediately following the race at Kansas Speedway.
.@HailieDeegan's 16th-place finish is the best result by a female in her debut in the Gander Trucks Series.
She spoke with @NASCARONFOX following the race. pic.twitter.com/EObnJmcBGE
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 17, 2020
“I think my goal was to just finish the race,” Deegan said post-race. “It’s crazy compared to ARCA Racing how intense the racing is, how competitive it is – you’re trying to block and one guy would pass the other, next thing you know you’ve got two guys blowing by you if you don’t make a successful pass.”
Deegan mentioned that avoiding a few bad situations on the track help lead to a solid debut.
“It’s alot tougher racing but I think we had a successful day,” she said. “We could have gotten into a few bad situations there, we stayed out of them – got a little nervous on the pit stop there, almost ran out of gas under the green flag stop. At the end of the day, it was such a high intensity paced racing – I’m looking forward to dong more of it.”
During the broadcast, it was announced that Hailie would move to the Truck Series full-time in 2021 with DGR-Crosley via a video she made in partnership with Ford.
Sponsor, crew chief, and other details will be announced at a later date.
