Ford driver Hailie Deegan will race for ThorSport Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2023.
The new season will be Deegan’s third full-time in the Truck series. In 46 starts she has no wins and three top-10 finishes.
Deegan has started one Xfinity race, finishing 13th last October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Deegan drove for the David Gilliland Racing Ford team in trucks the past two years. Gilliland is switching to Toyota for 2023. Deegan has a Ford contract. The ThorSport team, which has won four truck championships, is moving to Ford after two seasons with Toyota.
“I think the last two seasons in trucks I’ve been trying to figure it out,” Deegan said Thursday. “I feel like I have a good grasp on it now and understand what you need to be successful. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle. The last two years I’ve been trying to find those pieces. Coming here to ThorSport, they’ve always had the pieces to the puzzle figured out.”
Although Deegan has shown slow progress in her limited time at NASCAR’s national level (her average finish in trucks this season was slightly worse than in 2021, and she has no top fives), she remains one of the most popular drivers in Ford’s motorsports lineup. She has won the Truck Series Most Popular Driver award the past two seasons.
“I’ve been used to pressure my whole life,” Deegan said. “It’s been on me from the start. If you can’t deal with the pressure, you probably shouldn’t have it on you. I’m going to go out and work as hard as I possibly can.”
Deegan will join Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes and Matt Crafton on the ThorSport team.
