Hailie Deegan has been added to the Camping World SRX Series season finale July 17 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway.
Originally scheduled to race twice, this will be Deegan’s third start in the spec series that pits young up-and-coming drivers against veterans who have largely retired from full time racing.
In her first attempt at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, in a substitute role for Tony Kanaan, Deegan finished second behind series points’ leader Tony Stewart and ahead of last week’s winner from Lucas Oil Raceway, Ernie Francis, Jr.
Deegan is also scheduled to race this weekend at Slinger (Wis.) Speedway, once again in relief of Kanaan.
“SRX has been a blast and I’m super pumped to run the finale at Nashville,” Deegan said. “Knoxville was a great experience and finishing second to Tony Stewart was a huge accomplishment. That was on dirt, so I’m definitely interested to see what these SRX cars feel like on pavement this Saturday night at Slinger, and one of the best things about racing Nashville is that I can take what I learn at Slinger and apply it there.”
Nashville is getting better and better… @HailieDeegan is returning for our final race to compete among the superstars! 🏁🏆🏎 pic.twitter.com/ffVbDcuu6V
— Superstar Racing Experience (@SRXracing) July 8, 2021
This will give her an opportunity to race against some of the greatest names in auto racing - and go head-to-head with the 2020 NASCAR champion. Chase Elliott was announced to the lineup earlier this week.
Deegan races fulltime in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. She is a three-time winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West - a series that races almost exclusively on short tracks - and was the first female to win a race in that series.
“We all saw at Knoxville how quickly Hailie adapted to these SRX cars and it was pretty obvious that she has no reservations about mixing it up with these guys,” said Ray Evernham, co-founder of the SRX Series. “She gained positions in each heat and in the feature and then finished second to one of the best racecar drivers in the world. Hailie has definitely earned her spot in the Camping World SRX Series.”
Saturday’s race from Slinger and next Saturday’s race at Nashville will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.