Sophomore Journey: After a successful rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last season with driver Brett Moffitt, AM Racing will embark on its sophomore journey in 2024 with driver Hailie Deegan for the entire 33-race tour, continuing with Saturday afternoon’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
The Statesville, N.C.-based team plans to expand its footprint in the NASCAR Xfinity Series to also run two cars throughout the season with its No. 25 AM Racing entry.
Future Focused: Last October, AM Racing announced that Hailie Deegan joined the family-owned operation to pilot the team’s No. 15 Ford Mustang in a multiyear agreement.
Deegan, a native of Temecula, Calif. has been a staple in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series for the past three seasons but will embrace her rookie season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as part of the Ford Performance program.
Deegan grew up racing off-road and on dirt but transitioned to competing on asphalt in 2016 to pursue a career in stock car racing. She began that transition in 2018 in the ARCA Menards Series West (previously NASCAR K&N Pro Series West), She became the first female driver to have won races in the West Series, doing so in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively.
Deegan, 21, arrives at AM Racing after a stint driving for ThorSport Racing in 2023.
Change The Game: Earlier this week, AM Racing and Deegan announced a partnership with trailblazing independent musician and one of music’s most respected artists, Cody Jinks for Saturday afternoon’s Focused Health 250.
With their partnership, AM Racing, along with Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year candidate Hailie Deegan, will promote Jinks’ anticipated new album, Change The Game, on March 22 via his own label, Late August Records, which he recently launched in an unprecedented partnership with The Orchard.
Produced by Ryan Hewitt (Red Hot Chili Peppers, ZZ Top) and Joshua Thompson, Jinks’ longtime bassist, Change The Game marks a new chapter for Jinks both personally and professionally. He is now self-managed with a completely independent team.
A multi-platinum and award-winning artist, Jinks has sold over 2 million tickets, released ten studio albums, sold more than 2 million equivalent units and garnered more than 4 billion streams across platforms with over 1 billion streams on Spotify and 1.7 billion streams on Pandora, earning him a Pandora Radio Billions Award.
He was also named Music Row’s 2023 Independent Artist of the Year after receiving the most radio spin for an independent artist last year—his second time receiving the award — and will continue to tour extensively through this fall, including headline shows at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater, Los Angeles’ Greek Theater and San Diego’s Rady Shell at Jacobs Park among many others.
Jinks will also join Luke Combs for select dates this year as part of his “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old” stadium tour.
Hailie Deegan NASCAR Xfinity Series Circuit of the Americas Stats: Saturday afternoon’s Focused Health 250 will mark Deegan’s debut at the 3.14-mile Texas road course.
Deegan, however, does own three NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series starts at the 20-turn road course.
Her track-best result occurred during the 2021 Toyota Tundra 225 when she steered to a 14th-place finish after starting 28th for TRICON Garage (formerly David Gilliland Racing).
Hailie Deegan NASCAR Xfinity Series Career Stats: In five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Deegan has a career-best 13th-place finish after starting 20th for SS-GreenLight Racing with Jeff Lefcourt at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in October 2022.
In addition to five Xfinity Series starts, she has achieved 70 ARCA Menards Series starts, including three wins and 69 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series starts to her credit.
AM Minute: It was a relatively quiet weekend for the Statesville, N.C.-based team.
Both the AM Racing Dirt and ARCA Menards Series divisions were off this past weekend, along with the NASCAR Xfinity Series enjoying their first-weekend breather of 2024.
Weather dependent, the AM Racing Dirt Division will be back in action at Friendship Speedway in Elkin, N.C.
The ARCA Menards Series is enjoying a short sabbatical before their season resumes action at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on April 20.
Thanks For Your Support: With 15 percent of the 2024 Xfinity Series complete, AM Racing and Hailie Deegan would like to thank their associate marketing partners for their support: AirBox, Flying Circle, Klutch Vodka, Mechanix Wear, Monster Energy Drink, Mobil 1, Viva Tequila Seltzer and WIX Filters.
Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway | Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 Race Recap: The fourth race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series kicked off from Avondale, Ariz. on Saturday, March 9.
After matching her best qualifying result of the season on Saturday morning, Deegan started her No. 15 AirBox Ford Mustang from the 19th position. Fighting the balance on her Ford Mustang, Deegan hovered safely inside the top 25.
Adjustments from crew chief Joe Williams Jr. allowed the former ARCA Menards Series West winner to climb back into the top 20 in Stage 3, but Deegan was collected in a multi-car accident on Lap 146, ending her day with a frustrating 34th-place finish.
From the Pit Box: Industry veteran Joe Williams Jr. is Hailie Deegan’s crew chief.
He will be crew chief for his 136th NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday and his fourth at Circuit of the Americas.
In his previous 135 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, he has collected one win (Auto Club Speedway | February 2022), eight top-five and 30 top-10 finishes.
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Hailie Deegan Quoteboard:
On Circuit of the Americas: “I am very optimistic about the weekend. I’m excited to get to the first of several road courses on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. My AM Racing team has been bringing me fast Ford Mustangs so far this season; we just haven’t had very good luck.
“Hopefully, we can change the tune a little bit on Saturday and deliver a strong finish with our No. 15 Cody Jinks Change The Game Ford Mustang.”
On Cody Jinks Partnership: “I am beyond thrilled about this partnership with Cody Jinks this weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Cody’s energy and growing popularity will undoubtedly bring us some attention for the race this weekend.
“I am honored to represent him, promote his new record, and earn him a great finish with our No. 15 Cody Jinks — Change The Game Ford Mustang on Saturday afternoon.”
AM Racing PR
