Hailie Deegan crashes in return to dirt racing

Hailie Deegan has dabbled at racing in the dirt realm multiple times over the past few years. However, on her return to dirt racing this year at the Millbridge Raceway, fate had something else in store for her as she crashed out with a rival, breaking her steering column.

The 23-year-old is known for her years of racing in the NASCAR ladder. She had made it into the Xfinity Series last year, but Deegan and AM Racing parted ways mid-way through the 2024 season.

Utilizing the time away from the NASCAR world, she ventured into the open-wheel racing realm at the latter end of 2024 and landed a seat at HMD Motorsports for the 2025 Indy NXT season. On the other hand, with her schedule having a bit of a break owing to Indy NXT's smaller calendar as compared to NASCAR, she had a bit more time on her hands to look into other forms of racing.

Hailie Deegan participated in the Millbridge dirt race on April 16, after a nine-month break. She participated in the Winged Micro category with the kart number 38.

However, her day ended in heartbreak as she crashed with Daniel Dye mid-way through the race. This resulted in her steering column breaking down, and the 23-year-old was classified as 12th in the B-Main segment.

Talking about how she wanted to avoid the crash but unfortunately crashed into the 43D kart, she said (via a video uploaded on her YouTube channel):

"I tried to go high but and just couldn't make it." (12:29 onwards)

In the Indy NXT sphere, Hailie Deegan remains the sole female driver after Sophia Floersch parted ways with HMD Motorsports after a single race.

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Hailie Deegan talks about the lack of female representation in motorsports

Hailie Deegan at the Empire State Building - Source: Getty

Female drivers have remained in smaller numbers in comparison to male drivers in the motorsport realm. While some women drivers have tried to break this norm over the years, only a few have ever been able to break into the top leagues.

Hailie Deegan shared her thoughts on how she bears the flag for women's representation in the racing sphere, and said on Fox and Friends (via her YouTube channel):

"Oh man, it's wild. There's not many girls out there at all, So trying to represent the females in the sport and showing other girls it's possible is awesome, because there isn't many of them... [It] is definitely super hard super physical and so it's definitely a challenge but I love it." (2:58 onwards)

Deegan has started her Indy NXT campaign on the front foot. She initially had tough experience racing open-wheel cars and was seconds off the leaders' pace.

However, the 23-year-old progressed rapidly throughout the St. Petersburg Grand Prix weekend and improved her relative pace over the weekend.