Charles Krall (ARCA Racing): Welcome back to 10 Questions, this week’s victim is the driver of the No. 4 for DGR-Crosley Racing, one of the budding superstars of the sport Hailie Deegan. Hailie, anyone who follows you and your family on social media knows you get to go to some very cool places. If you could pick anywhere in the world that you haven’t been yet with your family where would you pick to go?
Hailie Deegan (Driver No. 4 Monster Energy Ford): I love traveling and my dad and I have talked about it, we would like to do more traveling outside of the states. I really want to go to Australia.
CK: What about Australia makes you want to go there? You know they have a lot of really dangerous animals there.
HD: I like doing dangerous stuff and I like doing stuff outside of the normal. That’s just kind of our family aspect. We know this guy named Jackson Strong and he does freestyle motocross. The guy is gnarly. He made this homemade bomb thing like fireworks and blew off part of his leg. He is just the typical. He’ll go skydiving out of planes, stuff that shouldn’t be done. We don’t know how he is still alive. He is the most rad dude you would know and he’s from Australia. They see a bunch of crazy stuff and they love it.
CK: I think an Australian blowing off half of his leg is like a Tuesday down there.
HD: Yeah it’s like his thigh. He’s missing a chunk of his thigh. He flexes his muscle and it’s all weird. He blew up his car, too.
CK: Crazy. Again, anyone who follows you on your social media channels knows you do a lot of really fun things away from the racetrack. If you had to pick one, what’s your absolute favorite thing to do away from the track?
HD: I love working out. I feel like I get a lot of emotions built up racing. It’s a very emotional sport. So working out is the way I can take it out. Boxing I love it. If I have a bad race, that’s how I take it out. Let’s go boxing. My trainer even knows. He’s like “you’re having a bad day aren’t you, I can see the anger on your face.”
CK: Remind me to stay on your good side when we’re at the race track.
HD: It comes in handy in case anyone tries to do you wrong!
RACING-REFERENCE: Hailie Deegan Career Statistics
CK: I have been telling everyone I graduated from high school thirty years ago. Yes, I am an old man. I don’t remember much about high school but I do remember my favorite class, it was French class, even though I don’t remember any of it.
HD: I started home school when I was in seventh grade so I didn’t go to high school. I did it all online. Math has always come super easy to me. That is what I have been naturally good at. I am not so good at English-type stuff. Math was my favorite because it was easy.
CK: So English would have been your least favorite.
HD: Yeah. I absolutely hate reading.
CK: I like reading but there were some parts of those English classess. We had to read A Tale of Two Cities my sophomore year and I made it through the first page and said “I am just going to take the F.” I couldn’t do it.
So I am sure everyone knows by now who your dad is, one of the coolest action sports athletes in the world, Brian Deegan. So you have been around a lot of really cool people. Take all of those people, erase them all from this question. If you could pick anyone else outside of all of those folks to hang out with the night before a race and go to dinner with, who would it be and where would you want to go?
HD: Lewis Hamilton.
CK: Why do you pick Lewis Hamilton? That’s an interesting answer.
HD: I like everything he has done in F1, and he has become a celebrity and an icon away from racing. That’s my goal in NASCAR. I not only want to make it to Cup but I want to be this icon, this figure where you’re looked at not only as a popular racecar driver but a popular influencer away from racing. He’s done such a good job at that. You see him at fashion shows, you go in health and fitness and he has a lot of things he is behind outside of racing and that’s what I want out of life.
CK: That’s interesting because it leads me into our next question. So Lewis Hamilton has set a wonderful example for a lot of people in a wide range of life topics. What type of example do you want to set for those who not only come into racing after you do but for the young people who follow you on your social media channels?
HD: I think hard work pays off. It takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work. It’s not just a race weekend thing. It’s not just a race day thing. It is all the work that goes into it. The buildup into it. That is why Daytona was so special to me, because there was so much work that went into it. There were so many deals that I had to get put together. It took a lot of time and a lot of sacrifice. We spent a lot of time going to Daytona before the race, practicing and testing and simulator time, day after day, and different things I did to prepare for that race. Watching video. That’s why that race was so special because it showed the hard work paid off.
CK: It did pay off. You tied the all-time record for best finish by a female driver. Pretty soon we will be talking about the first female driver to win.
HD: I hope so!
RELATED: Hailie Deegan Makes History With K&N Pro Series West Win at Meridian
CK: No, that’s going to happen. So what was the first car you ever had? It couldn’t have been that long ago. For reference, mine was a 1985 four-door Dodge Omni that topped out at 82 miles an hour downhill with a tailwind.
HD: Here’s the backstory. My parents promised me growing up, and this was before we started racing and we killed my dad’s savings, my parents promised me if I got straight As when I was 16 they would get me a Ford Raptor. That was back when my dad was with Ford in rally cars. The Raptor was my dream truck. Then I ended up being sponsored by Toyota and they did the deal so my first car was a Toyota Tacoma.
CK: It’s close enough. Now you’re back in the Ford family so what is the vehicle you have now?
HD: I have a Mustang GT 350 and a Raptor in North Carolina.
CK: I knew about the Mustang, I didn’t know about the Raptor. I am a little envious.
HD: Oh, and I have an Expedition. That’s our family vehicle when I am going anywhere with everyone or we are traveling, we take the Expedition.
CK: Well I have a Honda minivan so …
You are a very dynamic personality and you bring a lot of eyeballs wherever you go which can be a very good thing. What do you think is the biggest contribution you bring to DGR-Crosley as a driver and a member of the team?
HD: That is a hard question. When it comes to the contribution I bring, I try to stay positive and motivate everyone. Not saying I always do that, but I try to. I try to keep everyone’s spirits up and the ball rolling. The motivation going. I want to do my part to the fullest so I know they are doing their part too.
CK: So when it is raceday, a lot of racecar drivers have some things they have to do before they get in to go race. Do you have any pre-race rituals that you have to do before you get in and go to battle with these guys?
HD: Not a ton. I always like to work out on raceday and get my body moving. I always drink a lot of pre-workout. It’s probably a problem and I know when I don’t have any I get a headache but I live off of caffeine and coffee. Before a race I always get a double or triple scoop of pre-workout and put it inside my bottle for my car but I always end up drinking it under one caution at the very beginning.
CK: So I actually know the answer to this question but I am going to ask it anyhow. It’s two laps to go and you’re coming down for the white flag …
HD: HA HA!
CK: You’re in second place. Your teammate is right in front of you. How’s that last lap play out? I already know the answer but you still have to tell me.
HD: I feel like that answer was proven in a few races!
CK: It was! You’re the one driver who has already answered this one!
HD: I think I have done that in real life! Actions speak louder than words.
CK: We’ll just go to the YouTube video for that one.
HD: Yeah, just go to the video for that one.
What everyone is talking about today:
That wild finish in Colorado last night😲!!!
“That’s racing. We were all going for the kill.”-> https://t.co/Yl2luOeIcX#ColoradoNAPA150 | @cnsracing pic.twitter.com/vGl8khAnQT
— NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) June 9, 2019
CK: So the question that Thad Moffitt had for you was very interesting and you already answered this one, he knows you’ve been very busy your entire life with what your dad was doing and now with what you’re doing but he wanted to know how you did go to school. How did you work out the home school thing?
HD: I am very independent. I am fine being alone by myself and working. I am good setting goals for myself. I don’t need anyone to push me. I have always been very dedicated to my schooling. In the seventh grade I begged my parents on Christmas break that I didn’t want to go back to school. They were so slow. I could get my work done quicker until the summer and we went racing. I was 13 at the time. So I wrote my dad a five page essay on why I should be home schooled. Finally he was like “fine!” I did all the work in finding my teachers and everything. Keep in mind I was 13 or 14. I did all of the work finding the teachers and getting all of the classes I wanted to do. I didn’t skip any grades, but what I did was I fast tracked. I ended up cutting off two years of my schooling because I didn’t take any breaks off. No summers. So I was done with school when I was 16.
CK: Wow that’s pretty motivated. Nicely done. So we are going to be talking to Tanner Gray tomorrow, your other teammate. Is there a question you’d like him to answer.
HD: Hmmmmm …
CK: You know you could always ask him how you flip a late model car at Martinsville. That takes some skill.
HD: No no, that was Taylor.
CK: No, that’s who we are talking to.
HD: Yeah, ask him that one.
CK: I’ve been watching racing at Martinsville for 47 years. I can’t remember anyone ever flipping a race car at Martinsville. That takes some skill. Yeah, we are talking to Taylor. Did I say Tanner?
HD: Yeah, you did.
CK: At least I got it incorrect with you, it gives me a chance to get it right tomorrow!
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