Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Ford, during the Calypso Lemonade 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana on Friday, July 3, 2020. (AJ Mast/ARCA Racing)
Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Energy Ford, chats with Taylor Gray prior to the Calypso Lemonade 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana on Friday, July 3, 2020. (AJ Mast/ARCA Racing)

Hailie Deegan Keeps Adding To Record Book

www.arcaracing.com July 10, 2020

Hailie Deegan keeps adding to her resume as she gets acclimated to the ARCA Menards Series.

The Temecula, California, driver who will turn 19 next week, ended a run of three straight seventh-place finishes with her third-place performance at Lucas Oil Raceway last weekend.

With it, she tied the mark set by Nicole Behar in 2016 as the highest finishing female in series’ history on a short track. Earlier this season, she tied for the highest finishing female in series’ history on a superspeedway with her runner-up at Daytona International Speedway.

Now she heads to Kentucky Speedway Saturday aiming to bring home that first series win.

Saturday’s General Tire 150 (FS1, 2 p.m. ET) will be Deegan’s second start on a 1.5-mile track. She finished eighth in the 2019 season finale at Kansas Speeedway.

RELATED: PIT BOX: Ty Gibbs Leads Return To Kentucky | General Tire 150 Race Center

“Since I’ve never raced at Kentucky, I’ve been on the simulator practicing as much as I can without actually being on the track,” said Deegan, who will run the same car the team brought to Pocono Raceway two weeks ago. “I’ve been racing dirt more, racing at Millbridge Speedway (in North Carolina). I’ve been go-karting, pretty much just getting in the seat as much as I can.

“That’s really been important to me since we have such limited practice at the tracks now.”

Saturday’s schedule calls for a 45-minute practice session, and the starting field will be set by owner’s points.

With her Lucas Oil finish, Deegan closed the gap on championship points leader Michael Self to 12 points. She’s eight in front of Self’s Venturini Motorsports teammate Drew Dollar and 11 over Bret Holmes. Deegan’s DGR Crosley teammate, Thad Moffitt is fifth in points.

Deegan’s No. 4 will feature a new look for Kentucky as well.

Deegan, who became the first female winner in NASCAR East or West series history in 2018, can accomplish the same thing in ARCA with her first win. Currently, Deegan (Daytona), Shawna Robinson (Daytona, 1999) and Erin Crocker (three times: Kentucky 2005 & 2007 and Kansas 2005) are tied with their respective second-place finishes.

Deegan is also on pace to eclipse Robinson’s sixth-place championship finish in 2000 for the highest finishing female.

Track experience

Given that the ARCA Menards Series is making its first trip to Kentucky since 2017, most of the field will be making their debut at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

Of those who have run there before, Brad Smith has the most experience by far with his 21 starts. The 51-year-old from Shelby Township, Michigan, will drive the No. 48 BradSmithMotorsports.com Chevrolet in Saturday’s race. His best finish at Kentucky came in 2004 when he finished 16th.

Holmes has run Kentucky twice, finishing seventh in 2016 and suffering mechanical issues in 2017 that resulted in a 21st. Holmes had had four straight top 10 finishes between the ARCA Menards and East series since racing returned last month from the layoff, and the 23-year-old from Munford, Alabama, is squarely in the championship mix.

Dick Doheny finished 19th at Kentucky in 2017.

First time runs

Self, Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer lead the Kentucky field among the first timers for the series.

Self counts 1.5-mile wins at Kansas Speedway (2017), Chicagoland Speedway (2018) and Michigan International Speedway (2019) among his eight career ARCA Menards Series wins. He does have a NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Kentucky in 2015 that was cut short just 25 laps in when he was involved in an accident.

Gibbs has split the No. 18 with Joe Gibbs Racing with Riley Herbst. The latter was seventh at Kentucky in 2017.

Kentucky Speedway is one of two tracks larger than 1.25 miles at which drivers younger than 18 years of age can compete. Both Kentucky and Pocono Raceway allow 17 year old drivers to participate. Gibbs and Mayer finished first and third, respectively, at Pocono two weeks ago.

And more

  • Kentucky will host its 25th ARCA Menards Series race. Its first, on July 2, 2000, was won by Tim Steele. The most recent series race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval was held on September 23, 2017 and was won by Austin Theriault.
  • First time series winners at Kentucky Speedway include: Ryan Hemphill, Brad Coleman, Erik Darnell, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Austin Cindric.
  • Nineteen different drivers have won the previous 24 series races at Kentucky Speedway: Tim Steele, Ryan Newman, Frank Kimmel, Chad Blount, Kyle Busch, Ryan Hemphill, Steven Wallace, Brad Coleman, Erik Darnell, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Scott Speed, James Buescher, Parker Kligerman, Corey LaJoie, Brennan Poole, Ryan Reed, Austin Cindric, and Austin Theriault.