Hailie Deegan is embarking on one of the toughest feats in motorsport ahead of her first season of Indy NXT in 2025.
The 23-year-old has never raced in karts or single-seater racing but will attempt to conquer a series with very little experience in it.
It’s something very rarely attempted due to the difficulty of doing so, but a switch to single-seater racing without any experience of it will come with multiple difficulties.
She struggled during an Indianapolis test last week, showing that there is work to do before she can be considered a real threat for top 10 finishes.
Hailie Deegan thinks setting positional goals is ‘dumb’
However, during her first season in the series, results are not going to be something to focus on, and progress instead will be of utmost importance.
If Deegan can show signs of improvement and inch towards the midfield, she stands a good chance of hanging around for a while.
Speaking to Tony Donohue on YouTube, she said that positions are not part of her goals for 2025 and that it’s a ‘dumb’ thing to consider.
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“Goal-wise, I’ve wrote down all my goals already for the year for the car. None of them have finishing places on them.
I think, for me, finishing places are kind of dumb when it comes to goals because one big wreck and you can have Portland, first turn and take out 10 drivers – ‘oh yeah, we got our top 10 for the year’.
“For me, I want to progress, I want to learn the dynamics of these cars.”
Who is Deegan up against in her first season?
Deegan will face some coveted stars in 2025, including drivers who have been in the setups of Formula 1 teams.
The bbig-namesigning of last week was Dennis Hauger – a former affiliate of Red Bull’s young driver programme brings someone with huge potential to the series.
Caio Collet – who won a race last year, raced in Formula 3 and was also a part of Alpine’s driver academy too.
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These guys were once considered to be possible candidates for a Formula 1 seat, now testing the waters in the IndyCar feeder series.
Don’t be fooled by the numbers early on, because if Deegan is given time and can get close to the calibre of drivers mentioned, she is seriously the real deal.