HAILIE DEEGAN’s Indy NXT Run Ends After One Tough Season

November 16, 2025

• HAILIE DEEGAN’s transparency philosophy from her early K&N Series days—where she demanded full information and hated being kept in the dark—feels particularly relevant as her one-season Indy NXT experiment comes to an abrupt end. Her 14th-place finish among full-time drivers tells the story of a talented oval and off-road racer discovering that open-wheel road racing demands an entirely different skill set.
• The numbers don’t lie about DEEGAN’s challenging transition from NASCAR to IndyCar’s feeder series: zero top-10 finishes, consistent rear-field qualifying, and 202 points across 14 starts without leading a single lap. Industry veteran Marshall Pruett’s assessment was blunt but fair—you can teach road racers to master ovals, but the reverse is “damn near impossible” to accomplish in a single season.
• This IndyCar detour wasn’t exactly DEEGAN’s Plan A. After her AM Racing Xfinity Series ride imploded mid-2024, she needed somewhere to land, and Indy NXT provided that opportunity. While the results were disappointing, we can’t fault her for taking a swing at something completely outside her comfort zone when NASCAR options dried up—that takes guts, even if the execution didn’t match her previous success.

arca menards series, hmd motorsports, indianapolis motor speedway, indy nxt