"She doesn’t need to upgrade”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. suggests what Hailie Deegan needs for the future of her NASCAR career

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently shared his take on what the next step should be for Hailie Deegan. The young NASCAR driver recently announced she was parting ways with her team AM Racing effective immediately, midway through the season.

This announcement has cast a shadow of uncertainty on Deegan's future in NASCAR.

Speaking about this subject on the Dale Jr. Download, Junior spoke about what the right move now would be for Deegan.

"Hailie would probably be better off with a team that has some foundation underneath it, that’s been a team. That’s had these types of drivers come in. That knows what they need ... almost knows how to handle these inexperienced, young drivers, and how to protect them," Earnhardt said. [1:08:00]

He claimed that it was in the best interest of both Deegan and AM Racing that they parted ways. Earnhardt mentioned how teams like AM Racing need drivers that can help them grow.

Going forward, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, AM Racing should try to hire drivers like Josh Berry, who can help them in making their organization better.

"They can build their program, and maybe go back to hiring a full-time driver that might complement them," Junior said.

As for Hailie Deegan, the NASCAR Hall of Famer added that she doesn't need to focus solely on taking another big leap in her career.

"She doesn’t need to upgrade so much, in terms of race teams, but there are some great teams out there that might be in line with her funding and support, that have been around awhile in the series, that do just this," he described.

Junior said that such teams take on young drivers like Deegan and develop them.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Hailie Deegan could become a quality racer under the right circumstances

Despite there being no clarity over her future in NASCAR as of now, Dale Earnhardt Jr. believed Hailie Deegan should pursue more opportunities.

Junior further claimed that if Deegan finds the right team and the right equipment, she could become a quality racer in her own right.

"I think that she absolutely should pursue more opportunities in either Truck or Xfinity Series. I believe she should and I think that in a good scenario, in the right situation, she could actually turn into quite an accomplished racer at some level," he said.

However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. did add that he wasn't sure about Deegan's chances at the Cup level because of the level of competition.

Sharing his diagnosis of what went wrong with Hailie Deegan's career trajectory, Junior shared his thoughts on the "challenging system." He remarked that drivers like Deegan have an urgency to try and move up the ranks.

This, he said, leads to the drivers taking the very next available opportunity at the next level without thinking it through. Dale Jr. claimed that this happens because those drivers have a limited amount of financial support, which is bound to dry up at some point.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added that he'd hate to see Hailie Deegan move away from NASCAR and give up stock car racing altogether.