After two full-time seasons with David Gilliland Racing, Hailie Deegan will officially move to ThorSport Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. Deegan made the announcement via a video on her YouTube channel on Thursday.
This official announcement confirms a report from RacinBoys.com from December 6th that stated ThorSport would switch to Ford for the 2023 season and that Deegan was a prime candidate to move to the organization.
Deegan will pilot the team’s No. 13 Ford F-150. The departure of Christian Eckes, who moved to McAnally Hilgemann Racing’s No. 19 entry for the 2023 season, made way for Deegan to join the team.
Deegan will have Rich Lushes, who has served as the crew chief for Ben Rhodes over the last two seasons, as her crew chief this upcoming season. The pairing of Rhodes and Lushes has led to a Championship and a runner-up finish in the championship standings.
The four-driver lineup for ThorSport Racing in 2023 will consist of Deegan, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, and Ty Majeski. The organization made the official announcement of Crafton, Rhodes, and Majeski returning after Deegan’s YouTube video was published.
Shane Wilson will continue as Crafton’s crew chief, while Joe Shear Jr. will once again turn the wrenches on Majeski’s truck and Jeriod Prince will be Rhodes’ new crew chief.
Deegan, 21, scored the Most Popular Driver Award in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2022. This marked the second-consecutive season that Deegan was named most popular in the series.
In 2022, Deegan recorded a career-high two top-10 finishes in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition, and she finished 13th in her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, which came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the fall.
Now, the California native will look for a breakout campaign in 2023 with one of the most potent organizations in the series.
ThorSport Racing drivers have scored four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championships over the last 10 NCTS seasons, and the organization had two of the four Championship 4 drivers in 2022.
