Hailie Deegan's Indy NXT Career Gets Off to Rather Slow Start

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Hailie Deegan’s detour from NASCAR to open-wheel racing got off to a slow start.

Call it baby steps, if you will.

Of 22 drivers participating in Friday’s Chris Griffis Memorial Indy NXT Series test session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Deegan was last on the speed list. And it wasn’t close.

Deegan ran a top speed of 111.280 mph in a 67-lap session over the 2.439-mile course.

Myles Rowe had the fastest speed at 116.784. Tommy Smith, 21st fastest on the list (and a teammate of Deegan’s), was more than three miles per hour faster than Deegan at 114.434.

Deegan, 23, plans a full-schedule Indy NXT run for HMD Motorsports next season. Friday’s runs were her first in the No. 38 car, one of several in the HMD stable for 2025.

Deegan struggled over several seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. She raced in trucks from 2021 to 2023 before moving to Xfinity this year. Her Xfinity season ended with her release in July.

In three seasons in trucks, she failed to score a top five and had only five top 10s. Her best finish in Xfinity this year before her release was a 12th at Talladega Superspeedway.

Three of the five HMD drivers were in the top eight in speeds Friday. Caio Collet was sixth, Bryce Aron seventh and Josh Pierson eighth.

Rowe, a former HMD driver who has moved to ABEL Motorsports for 2025. He was 11th in series points this year.

Dennis Hauger, Lochie Hughes, Callum Hedge and Liam Sceats completed Friday’s top 10. Haugher, Hughes and Sceats are rookies in the series.