Hailie Deegan out of NASCAR Xfinity ride following Chicago ouster, vows to return to track

In a move that shouldn't have surprised anyone, Hailie Deegan and her Xfinity Series team, AM Racing, have split.

Deegan's Monday morning announcement on social media came two days after Joey Logano replaced her in the seat of the No. 15 Ford Mustang for the Xfinity race in Chicago. The two-time Cup Series champ finished eighth, by the way, the team's only top-10 finish in 18 starts this year.

In 17 starts in her first full-time Xfinity Series season, Deegan's average finish was 26.8, her best was a 15th, and she never led a lap. This came after three lackluster seasons in the Truck Series, though in neither series was she with a team considered to be an upper-tier organization.

The 22-year-old California native was, however, voted the Truck Series' Most Popular Driver all three years on that circuit.

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As racers often do in these situations, Deegan hinted at behind-the-scenes issues that may have hurt her chances this season.

"There are always several reasons within a race team as to why things do or do not work, but sadly our goals no longer align," she wrote.

Deegan pledged to quickly work on finding a way back to the track and "getting back to being competitive."

She closed her social-media post with a barely veiled suggestion that there was more to the disappointment than just bad results.

"I'm thankful for the following that I have and everyone who supports me ... It's truly only me that knows the whole story and what I need to succeed."

In 2020, before coming to NASCAR full time, Deegan had a decent stock-car season in the ARCA Series — no wins, but 17 top-10s in 20 races and a third-place finish in the season-long championship. Prior to that, she won three times in two seasons in the lower-tier ARCA West series.