"I know it's a steep learning curve for her": Hailie Deegan's father Brian makes his feelings known on daughter's Indy NXT debut

Hailie Deegan, a former stock car racing driver, recently made her debut in the INDY NXT American open-wheel racing Series on Sunday at St. Petersburg. Her father Brian, one of the world's most celebrated Freestyle Motocross riders, was present with the family to attend Hailie's first race.

He spoke to the FOX broadcast team and shared his thoughts on Hailie's debut, acknowledging that she has a lot to learn and a long way to go, but he is excited to see her try something new.

While she got off a slow start to her first INDY NXT weekend, placing last in both practice sessions and qualifying last in her group, the race day saw Hailie Deegan manage a respectable position in the midfield in P14. She was only two spots behind her fellow rookie HMD Motorsports teammate, Sophia Floersch.

When asked about his feelings on watching her daughter make her debut in open-wheel racing, Brian Deegan said:

"It's exciting, you know, for her to take on a new challenge. I know it's a steep learning curve for her but I am excited. As a parent, you like to see that and nervous right? It's still our daughter going very fast in... those are very small race cars. So it's nerve-wracking, but it's cool to see a new sport like this for her."

Hailie Deegan made a name for herself in dirt track and stock car racing early in her career, eventually moving up to NASCAR's second tier racing series, the Xfinity Series in 2024 with the backing of Ford Performance. However, the partnership between Deegan and AM Racing didn't last the entire season after a string of disappointing results. She left the team after 17 races and began searching for other opportunities.

With no sponsor support to get another Xfinity ride, she decided to trade her stock car racing career for an open-wheel racing career and joined HMD Motorsports to compete in the IndyCar developmental series.

Meanwhile, the opening round at St. Petersburg was won by Andretti Global’s rookie Dennis Hauger.

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Hailie Deegan found her debut INDY NXT race to be extremely physically demanding

A few days ahead of her debut, Hailie Deegan was asked by Jamie Little about the biggest difference after switching from Stock Car racing to open-wheel racing. Hailie explained that these cars are much harder to drive compared to stock cars.

An aspect Deegan found especially challenging was the absence of power steering, something which is standard in stock cars. She explained that it was so difficult at first that her hands would fall off the steering wheel and she had to train extra hard to get that sorted.

After running a full race distance on Sunday, Deegan reiterated the physical demands of open-wheel racing.

“This is by far the hardest form of racing I’ve ever been a part of. By ‘hardest’, I mean physically, it is very physically demanding. I definitely need to be in the gym, which I have been in the last month, but I just need to keep on working hard this year,” Deegan said when asked if her arm was hurting (1:07 onwards).

Hailie Deegan now has almost a two-month break before she gets back for more racing action on Sunday, May 4, for the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.