Meet Deegan – not the next Danica

GRANITE CITY, ILL.» There are three questions that Hailie Deegan gets from everybody she comes across, and while she insists they’re not necessarily annoying, they certainly are persistent.

The first is about NASCAR star Kevin Harvick, who gave the young driver a shoutout after they raced against each other in a small event earlier this year. The second is about her favorite driver, and the last is about what it’s like being the next coming of Danica Patrick.

It’s probably best to take them in reverse order.

First, she explains, there is little in common between Deegan and the most wellknown female driver in motorsports. Deegan is the daughter of motocross legend Brian Deegan, which means she grew up on dirt — not in IndyCar — and is trying to work her way through stock car’s lower levels.

Second, she’s a big fan of Kyle Busch, which says a lot about her personality. Busch is loathed by many NASCAR fans for his badboy attitude, but the 17 yearold Deegan loves that the 2015 Cup Series champ brings an edgy, almost heellike quality to racing.

And finally, she thought it was pretty cool that Harvick thought so highly of the teen from Temecula, Calif.

“It was crazy,” she said during a break between recent practice sessions.

“He was one of the first to talk about me publicly in the NASCAR world,” Deegan said, “so that was cool. But I’m with Toyota, so my favorite drivers have to be Toyota drivers.”

Yes, it was officials from the auto manufacturer that decided there was enough promise in Deegan to lure her away from a promising offroad truck career to the world of stock cars.

Deegan spent some time testing last year with Bill McAnally, and a deal was struck to race a full K&N schedule this season. And while she’s racing against other drivers with years of experience on ovals and road courses, Deegan has more than held her own, leading laps last week at the Las Vegas dirt track and twice finishing second while building a strong case for rookie of the year.