On Friday, August 20, Hailie Deegan became the first woman in NASCAR to finish in the top-10 in the Truck Series at a track that wasn’t Daytona International Speedway. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competed at the World Wide Technology Raceway over the weekend, where Deegan finished seventh overall.
Deegan started the race 19th overall based on NASCAR’s formula that takes into account factors from the previous race on the schedule, as well as the team owner’s overall points. She proceeded to race in the top 20 throughout the evening before making a final push for her first career top-10 finish.
The Truck Series rookie appeared to be poised to finish 10th overall during the overtime race to the checkered flag at Gateway Motorsports Park. However, she moved up three spots after the No. 17 of Taylor Gray collided with the No. 40 of Ryan Truex, knocking them back in the pack.
While Deegan is the only female driver to finish among the top-10 outside of Daytona International Speedway, she is actually the fourth to finish near the front of the pack during her Truck Series career. Hailie also joins Jennifer Jo Cobb, Natalie Decker and Angela Ruch.
Cobb was the first to set the mark, doing so during the season-opening race at Daytona in 2011. Ruch kicked off the 2019 season with an eighth-place run, and Decker was the latest female driver to claim a top-10 finish at Daytona, doing so to start the 2020 season.
With the race at Gateway Motorsports Park complete, Deegan has limited opportunities to finish out the season strong. She will suit up once again on Sunday, Sept. 5, at Darlington Raceway. She will finish out the year with races at Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 16), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sept. 24), Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 2), Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 30), and Phoenix Raceway (Nov. 5).
