Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Ford, leans against her car prior to the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)
Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Ford, leans against her car prior to the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)

NOTEBOOK: Hailie Deegan Looking Forward To Strong Finish

www.arcaracing.com September 11, 2020

It was a season that started off with a runner-up finish at “The World Center of Racing.” But Hailie Deegan always knew that 2020 was going to be a year-long learning lesson.

Not only was the 19-year-old from Temecula, California, in her first year with Ford Racing as part of DGR-Crosley. She was also moving to the ARCA Menards Series from the West, where she won three times over two seasons. That meant new tracks and new competitors.

She’ll get a dose of familiarity Saturday, though, when the series heads back to Ohio’s Toledo Speedway for the Royal Truck & Trailer 200. She finished eighth and sixth there earlier this season.

“It’s great to go back to a track we have a lot of experience at,” said Deegan on a video conference call with media this week. “There’s not a lot of grip there. It would have been great as an off-road track but it makes it very challenging to race stock cars.

“Our short track program needed some improvement at the beginning of the season. Now we are just fine tuning it. Everything has to just come together. There are so many pieces to the puzzle.”

RELATED: Hailie Deegan on 2020: ‘I wouldn’t call it a lost year’

Deegan has three top fives and 12 top 10s in 14 starts this season.

The remaining ARCA Menards Series schedule includes a trip to Bristol Motor Speedway, where Deegan finished 16th and ninth in two East races last season, and the Springfield Mile, the dirt track at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The Springfield date is welcome news for the driver who got her start off-road racing, and has had success in a stock car on dirt.

Deegan won the pole and finished second to 2018 ARCA champion and current NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series points leader Sheldon Creed in the West race at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2018, and then won the race there in 2019.

RELATED: ARCA Finalizes Remainder of 2020 Schedule | PIT BOX: Return To Toledo Speedway Set For Fans

She will return to Toledo coming off a much-talked about race at Lebanon I-44, where she tangled with Bret Holmes and Ty Gibbs in separate on-track incidents. Both post-race and in the days after, she’s been pragmatic in her reflections.

“I don’t think there was anything else I could have done differently,” Deegan said. “There was a lot of gray area stuff going on. I went at the line, I can’t help it if someone pulls up to my door and goes ahead of me.”

Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Ford, drives past Bret Holmes, driver of the #23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet, after bumping him during the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)
Hailie Deegan, driver of the #4 Monster Ford, drives past Bret Holmes, driver of the #23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet, after bumping him during the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)

Like Lebanon I-44, Toledo and Winchester will be able to have fans for the race.

“It’s a completely different vibe with fans there,” Deegan said. “When there are no fans there it feels like a test day. When we were parked on the backstretch after the break there were so many fans there waving and yelling at us.

“It’s moments like that that make things so special.”

BUY TICKETS: Toledo | Winchester

Eye Of The Tiger

Bret Holmes has his sights set on ARCA Menards Series championship leader Michael Self.

Self has led the points since winning the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. But Holmes, who finished a distant third in the standings behind Self and champion Christian Eckes last year, served notice with a third-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series East race at Toledo that marked the return to racing on June 13.

He finished one spot ahead of Self in both ARCA Menards races at Toledo (July 31 and Aug. 2). He now sits one point behind Self as they return to ARCA’s home track.

But that’s not all that’s on Holmes’ mind. He’s also a senior studying in Auburn’s University’s McWhorter School of Building Science in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. He was recently profiled on AuburnTigers.com.

“I’ve always been an Auburn fan,” Holmes told the school website. “I’ve always been at home here even when I was a kid. It just felt right.

“People who message us on social media to say, ‘Hey, I noticed your pit sign and helmet,’” Holmes said. “’We’re rooting for you.’”

Notes

– In three races this year at Toledo, Sam Mayer has two wins and a runner-up finish, and has led 121 laps. Ty Gibbs won the East race, was second in the first ARCA Menards race and was leading late, lost the lead and finished 10th after spinning trying to take the lead back before the rain shortened the event. He’s led 290 laps over the three events. The only other driver to lead? 2019 Toledo winner Chandler Smith, who has led 110 laps this year on the half-mile. He didn’t run the East race, and finished 11th after mechanical issues in the first ARCA Menards race this year, before a runner-up finish in the second event. All three have won a General Tire Pole Award at Toledo this season, although neither Gibbs nor Mayer won in the race they earned the pole.

– Saturday will mark the first time since 1997 that three series races were held at the same track in the same season. That year, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted three AMS races, two in May and one in October.

– The last time Toledo Speedway held three AMS races in the same season was 1976. Series champion Dave Dayton won the first two, while Michigan-based racer Larry LaMay won the third.

– In addition to being an ARCA Menards Series race, Saturday will also count toward the ARCA Menards Series East championship. After three of six races, defending East champion Mayer leads Gibbs by 13 points. Chase Cabre is 27 back. Just 13 points separate Cabre from seventh-place Mason Diaz, a group that also includes Parker Retzlaff, Nick Sanchez and Max McLaughlin.

– The unique format will also lead to unique numbering. As Deegan is in the No. 4 Monster Energy Ford, Cabre will pilot the No. 4E Honda Generators/Max Siegel Inc. Toyota. Rick Clifton will be in the No. 11 Asheville Propane Ford, while Bob Pawlowski will drive the No. 11E Channel/Daily Clips Central Chevrolet. And with Self behind the wheel of the No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota, his Venturini Motorsports teammate Diaz will be in the No. 25E Solid Rock Carrier Toyota.

– Mayer, Retzlaff and Cabre are the only three drivers to complete all 504 laps of ARCA Menards Series East competition this season. Holmes leads the ARCA Menards Series with 1706 of 1711 completed (99.71%).

– Gibbs leads Retzlaff by six points in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings for the ARCA Menards Series East, while Deegan leads Drew Dollar by seven points in the ARCA Menards Series’ rookie battle.