Hailie Deegan expects smoother sailing at second Indy NXT race after wonky debut weekend

Former NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan made her Indy NXT debut at the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg on March 2. The 23-year-old had a tough first weekend, as she was multiple seconds slower than the leaders. However, the American expects to improve on her performance come the second race of the season.

Hailie Deegan uploaded a vlog from her Indy NXT debut on her YouTube channel on March 5. The video included clips from the qualifying session and the 23-year-old preparing for her race debut. The section of the video after qualifying showed Deegan looking at her lap time data.

Hailie said she'd do better at the second Indy NXT as she’d previously raced at that track. The second race of the Indy NXT season will be the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsport.

“My goal is to make all the laps obviously and try to go from there and learn as much as I can. I know this one's like kind of, ‘get through the first race,’” Deegan said as she looked forward to the race at St. Pete (8:30 onwards).

The St. Petersburg circuit is a temporarily setup street circuit for the IndyCar race and sees minimal racing action for other series. Hailie had never raced around the circuit and was learning the track on the go, which led to the lap time difference with the leader. Expecting a better weekend at Barber Motorsport, Hailie said:

“Obviously Barber is a place I've been to and I'll have more experience there. I'll be way more comfortable. Right now I feel like I'm still trying to put everything together, like it hasn't slowed down for me yet. I'm not very smooth like it just hasn't really like flowed all together yet just because I haven't had a bunch of seat time here so it's something that I'm definitely working at trying to get better.”

Hailie Deegan made improvements throughout the race weekend at St. Pete and was just a second or two slower than the leader in the race, compared to practice, where she was multiple seconds off the pace.

“Got to keep working hard”: Hailie Deegan reflects on her Indy NXT debut

Hailie Deegan started the Indy NXT race at St. Pete dead last. However, the American made steady progress throughout the race, managed to complete all the laps, and finished P14. Deegan uploaded a post on her Instagram as she shared a carousel of pictures from her debut. The caption read:

“Lots of first time experiences at St. Pete! Had a blast racing on a street course for the first time and was awesome to have my whole family there to enjoy it with me. Getting better every time I sit in the car! Just got to keep working hard at it @monsterenergy.”

Fellow HMD teammate Sophia Floersch, who also made her Indy NXT debut, finished the race in P12 after starting in P17.