The future of NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan with AM Racing hangs in the balance following her unexpected replacement by Joey Logano for this weekend's Chicago Street Race. With the team refraining from confirming a driver for the subsequent Pocono race in Pennsylvania, speculation about Deegan's ongoing association with AM Racing continues.
Deegan's season has been fraught with challenges, marked notably by her absence from the top-10 in the first 17 races, positioning her 27th in the points standings. This performance streak precipitated AM Racing's decision to enlist two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano to take the wheel in Chicago—a move aimed at leveraging his expert feedback to rejuvenate the team's competitive edge while also collecting data from a track the drivers have very little experience at.
Wade Moore, AM Racing team president, has wasn't able to comment on the future of Deegan at the team, although FOX Sport's Bob Pockrass has confirmed that her status within the team is currently "TBD".
Checked in with AM Racing folk here in the Xfinity garage and still TBD as far as who is in the No. 15 car next week at Pocono and Deegan’s status.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 5, 2024
"Checked in with AM Racing folk here in the Xfinity garage and still TBD as far as who is in the No. 15 car next week at Pocono and Deegan's status," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Moore said the following when pursued:
"The level of competition in the Xfinity Series is as competitive as it's ever been," he admitted. "It is our goal at AM Racing to field a competitive race team through our technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing and provide any of our drivers the best equipment and opportunity to be successful on track each weekend.
"With that being said, we haven't had the success on track that we were hoping for in the first half of the season. When the opportunity to have Joey in the car at Chicago became a possibility, we felt we needed to take advantage of the knowledge and feedback that a two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion could provide to our teams' growth.
"We intend to take the feedback and data from the Chicago race weekend and apply it to building better race cars each week so AM Racing can have a stronger second half of the season."
Logano himself detailed how the arrangement with AM Racing came to be, underscoring the mutual benefits anticipated from his stint in Chicago.
"They called me last week and said 'Hey, we got the seat here for the 15 that seems like it's going to open up and do you want to drive it?' I thought well, I think so. Let me clear with my boss Roger [Penske] and make sure that's okay and there's no sponsor conflicts," Logano shared.
He viewed the opportunity as beneficial not only for the team but also for his own aspirations.
"When you think about AM Racing, they were looking to have an experienced driver in there and get kind of get an idea of where their program's at and see if I can help them from that perspective. I was looking at it and saying 'Man, I can get more good laps on the Chicago Street Course, can't be anything bad with that either.' I felt like that was worth it to me."
Logano will take the wheel for the street race this weekend. Deegan's future will likely be confirmed following that.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Alex Harrington has been a journalist for 8 years, specialising in technology, automotive, and motorsport coverage for the likes of ... Read more
