Deegan won one race while driving full-time on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West last seasonGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan, who last year drove full-time in the regional K&N Pro Series West, is leading a "growing number of promising female drivers jockeying to fill the void left by trailblazer Danica Patrick, who retired last year," according to Edgar Thompson of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The day is "coming when more women join Patrick ... as female drivers competing in the Daytona 500." Patrick's popularity and staying power "showed sponsors that a woman is worth the multi-million-dollar investment to race stock cars at the highest level." Fox Sports' Jamie Little said, "'When' is the big question mark. But I would say five to 10 years because there are some tremendous, talented women just climbing the ladder" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 2/14). The AP's Mark Long wrote although Patrick's on-track success "never matched the attention she received for standing out in a male-dominated sport, her six-year stint in the Cup Series seemingly set the groundwork for other women to follow." Still, it "might take time to get them to NASCAR's top level." There are "no women in the second-tier Xfinity Series this season," and 45-year-old Jennifer Jo Cobb is the "only woman racing full time" in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series (AP, 2/14).
