Hailie Deegan has addressed her ongoing qualifying issues in her rookie Indy NXT season, revealing the specific problem her HMD Motorsports team discovered after a chaotic race weekend at Detroit GP. Her experiences underscore the steep learning curve faced by drivers transitioning from NASCAR to open-wheel racing, and her struggles in qualifying have been a significant storyline this season.
Early Season Challenges for Deegan in Indy NXT Qualifying
In her first year competing in the Indy NXT series with HMD Motorsports, Hailie Deegan has faced persistent difficulties in qualifying sessions. Deegan, previously known for her stints in NASCAR’s stock car competitions, has regularly started races from the back of the grid. While her pace on track has shown improvement with each passing session, for five races she has been the slowest qualifier, except during the Detroit Grand Prix. In that event, she only avoided last place on the grid because two fellow drivers, Callum Hedge and another, failed to finish qualifying after crashing out.
Deegan discussed these setbacks in a recent YouTube VLOG documenting her Detroit GP weekend, revealing her frustration and confusion with her lack of progress in qualifying despite feeling improvement behind the wheel.
“So, qualifying yesterday, it didn’t go great,”
she said on the morning of the race.
“I was expecting to go faster than I did in practice. Every time I hit the track, I go faster. But for some reason, in qualifying, I haven’t been. I feel like I’ve been doing things better, but just not going quicker.”
—Hailie Deegan, Indy NXT Rookie Driver
Team’s Discovery: Tire Temperatures Hampering Performance
The driver and her HMD Motorsports crew eventually diagnosed the main culprit behind her stalled qualifying results: an inability to generate enough heat in the tires quickly during qualifying sessions. Without tires reaching the necessary operating window, Deegan was unable to extract the needed grip, explaining her lack of pace even when her driving felt strong.
“Well, we figured out my issue is I’m not getting up to speed quick enough to get heat in the tires. So by the time the qualifying session is over, my tires aren’t even near the optimal temp yet. So I’m not getting all the grip out of it. I’m glad we figured that out, so I know how to fix it and work on it for the future. So, I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.’ Like I’ll go the quickest I have in the race, but for some reason, in qualifying, I stay stagnant.”
—Hailie Deegan, Indy NXT Rookie Driver
Despite this struggle, Deegan had maintained a clean racing record in her debut Indy NXT campaign. Unlike many series rookies, she had avoided costly accidents for HMD Motorsports, until her race was dramatically disrupted at Detroit.
Detroit Grand Prix: Deegan’s Involvement in a Major Multi-Car Crash
The Detroit Grand Prix proved eventful on lap one as chaos erupted at Turn 4. Contact between Callum Hedge and Myles Rowe triggered a multi-car accident, with Hedge and a handful of drivers narrowly escaping the incident. Meanwhile, nine cars—including Deegan—became involved in a pile-up that effectively blocked the track.
Despite limited options to avoid the crashed cars, Deegan’s quick reflexes helped her brake in time, avoiding a major front-end collision. However, Ricardo Escotto, unable to react in time, collided with the back of Deegan’s No. 38 HMD Motorsports car, briefly sending her rear onto Escotto’s car’s nose.
The impact forced Deegan to spend significant time in the pits for repairs, with her crew working for three laps to fix the damage before she could rejoin the event. She recounted the chaotic experience in a Snapchat story after the race.
“Well guys, that kind of sucked,”
she said.
“Lap one, there was a massive wreck hogging up the track. Got absolutely smoked. I ended up getting stopped in time, barely tapped in front of me, not enough to damage, and then I got smoked by someone else from behind. It killed the front wing and also broke something in the rear.”
—Hailie Deegan, Indy NXT Rookie Driver
Race Outcome and What Lies Ahead
The heavy repairs left Deegan five laps behind the leaders, and she ultimately finished in 16th position. Dennis Hauger, another name on the grid, took his fourth win of the season on a turbulent day for the field. Deegan currently sits 18th in the points standings after five races in her rookie Indy NXT campaign, reflecting the steep learning curve and challenges she continues to face in adapting to the series’ demands.
Her next test will come at the INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, from June 14 to 15. As she and her HMD Motorsports team focus on solving her qualifying pace issues, all eyes will be on whether Deegan can put this new insight into action and improve her starting positions in the intensely competitive Indy NXT field.
