Deegan, just 18, has an active social media following, with more than 468,000 followers on InstagramGETTY IMAGES
Hailie Deegan may be the highest-profile woman driving in NASCAR since Danica Patrick, but while her "marketing potential to NASCAR is obvious, and her family’s business is racing," Deegan and her parents are "content to go slow with her career" for now, according to Dave Caldwell of the N.Y. TIMES. Deegan's father, professional freestyle motocross rider Brian Deegan, said, "Our biggest fear is watching what’s happened to many other drivers who have moved too quick." Hailie Deegan, 18, has "cultivated an active following on social media, and now has 468,000 followers on Instagram, the most of any NASCAR driver, and more than 64,000 on Twitter." But she and her family "know a high profile means little without results, and so, wary of moving too fast, they have kept a tight safety net around her." The Deegan family said that NASCAR and sponsors, even though they "stand to benefit from Hailie’s presence and her pedigree," have been "supportive about the family’s decision to have her take her time to learn the craft." Deegan competes full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (N.Y. TIMES, 8/19).
