"Danica Patrick had success over there" - Kenny Wallace endorses Hailie Deegan's bold move to Indy racing, doubting NASCAR's readiness for women

Kenny Wallace recently touched upon how Hailie Deegan made the right choice by switching from NASCAR to IndyCar next season. Justifying the move, Wallace said that coming into 2024, NASCAR is still not ready for lady racers, and the sport is full of "jealous men."

Deegan has decided to move to IndyCar after spending some years at stock car racing. She will join the HMD Motorsport team and race for the #38 car in the IndyCar NXT. NXT primarily serves as the feeder series to IndyCar, just like the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series.

Wallace, the former NASCAR driver, congratulated Deegan on her latest decision, which is set to start next season. With this, he also hit out at the premier form of stock car racing, NASCAR, for their intolerance towards a woman driver.

Here is what Wallace said in his recent X video:

"The reason why I think this is a good idea, this is a controversial take, and I know it is, they can't run into her. Like they did in NASCAR. There's so many jealous men that race in NASCAR that they could take the vehicle and use it like a weapon and they would just run into her and spin around and wreck her, and it happened all the time, we watched it." [6:54 onwards]

"So, she says to hell with this NASCAR, they're not ready for a woman. NASCAR is not ready for a lady racer. I said it, I said it. So she goes over the IndyCar and if you know there's Danica Patrick had success over there, and I believe this is a better opportunity for Hailie and here's why, because you cannot take your IndyCar and run into another competitor because it will break your own car."

Danica Patrick, one of the most successful women racing drivers, has 116 races to her name. After she won the 2008 Indy Japan, she became the only woman to win an IndyCar race.

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Hailie Deegan reportedly trying to settle down for IndyCar already

Hailie Deegan (15) races during the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Saturday, June 29, 2024. Credit: Imagn

According to the latest statement by Mike Maurini, who is the President of HMD Motorsport, Hailie Deegan is already trying to settle down for her IndyCar journey next season. Maurini, in a statement, said:

"She [Deegan] is looking for a place in the Indianapolis area to be emersed with the team and is already working with her engineer. We want to make sure she and all the other HMD Motorsports drivers are as ready as possible for every on-track session."

Till October 2024, before she chose the IndyCar way, Hailie Deegan raked in 69 Truck Series, 18 Xfinity Series, 26 ARCA Menards, 16 ARCA Menards East, and 28 ARCA Menards West Series races.