Hailie Deegan is a winner again in the ARCA Menard’s West Series, about seven years after her most recent trip to ARCA West Victory Lane. Deegan, 25, now has four career victories in ARCA West.
The series was racing at Madera Speedway in California, and Deegan restarted on the inside of Trevor Huddleston for a two-lap dash to the checkered flag. Battling around the 0.333-mile short track, she leaned on him in the final corner and powered ahead to take the race win.
“I can’t believe we did it,” said Deegan, wiping away tears. “I I told myself today, if I’m in the position — I felt like last race, I was in the position and didn’t capitalize on it enough. And I told myself today, if I’m there, I’m capitalizing on it. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to win this damn race because we had a car capable of winning it. The guys at Bill McAnally Racing gave me an amazing car.
“I’m tearing up right now. It’s been a long time since I’ve won a race. So, I just want to say thank you to everyone. Everyone that still believed in me. It’s been hard. It’s been hard. Even my filmer’s crying too. It’s been super hard. And, just to see everyone still supporting me these days, it’s amazing. It doesn’t go unseen and I appreciate every single one of you, so thank you guys.”
Deegan began her stock car racing rise in ARCA West in 2018, winning three races in her first two seasons and ending 2019 third in the championship. She was full-time in the primary ARCA division in 2020, and then full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series between 2021 and 2023. She ran half of the 2024 NASCAR O’Reilly season, but her and the team abruptly parted ways and she never found much success in the national levels of NASCAR.
After that, she went open-wheel racing, spending the 2025 season as an Indy NXT driver, but struggled and returned to ARCA West for a reset in 2026, committing to a full-season campaign. Deegan entered this race sixth in the championship standings.
Deegan is part of a small group of women to capture the checkered flag in any level of NASCAR, with other names including Shawna Robinson, who won multiple times in the now-defunct Goody’s Dash Series. There’s also Manami Kobayashi, who earned a class win in EuroNASCAR, Gracie Trotter, who also won an ARCA West race, and Tatiana Calderon, who very recently won in the NASCAR Brazil Series.
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