A decade ago, Hailie Deegan hoped to be the next driver to successfully make the transition from off-road to stock cars. Jimmie Johnson remains the gold standard and the person whom she wanted to follow, Brendan Gaughan’s career trajectory brought him from CORR to NASCAR to SCORE, and Deegan’s LOORRS contemporary Sheldon Creed is an ARCA and Truck Series champion who currently leads the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points standings.

Things started off strong when she won three races across her two seasons in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, becoming the first woman to win in the series, and finished third in the 2019 standings. Unfortunately, while it presented her with great opportunities, becoming a Ford development driver didn’t work out in the end. Deegan couldn’t win in her lone ARCA Menards Series campaign in 2020 and never scored a top five in the Truck Series. Her lone stint in the Xfinity Series in 2024 was dismal and she was released midseason. Most of her current-decade stock car success came in SRX, and that was limited to two runner-ups. She even tried out Indy NXT in 2025 with nothing to show for it.

When in a rut, it’s usually a good idea to return to your roots and re-learn what made you you. Deegan did that in two different respects: go back to off-road, and try the West Series again.

The former was never meant to be anything substantial like signaling a permanent switch back to off-road; ergo, side quests in a discipline she grew up in. In late 2021, she made her Nitro Rallycross SxS debut at the FIRM and finished fifth and fourth in the two races, competing alongside her father Brian. She returned to the renamed Nitrocross in 2024 at Utah Motorsports Campus, going fourth and ninth. It might not have produced trophies, but it was nice getting to rip around in UTVs like she used to in Mod Karts and Pro Lites.

While she cut her teeth in short course, she also tackled the desert in 2022 when she and her now-fiancé Chase Cabre entered the Mint 400. Their Brenthel truck lost power steering that took them out for much of the day, eventually settling for 39th overall and 23rd in Unlimited Truck Spec with two laps completed.

The latter option reunited her with Bill McAnally. Of course, things have changed quite a lot since her last appearance. The championship was now called the ARCA Menards Series West while McAnally ended his long-running Toyota partnership to field Chevrolets in 2022.

Her return had been modest through the first nine races. Prior to Madera 150, she was sixth in points and clearly outshined by the likes of reigning champ Trevor Huddleston and her teammate Mason Massey. On the other hand, she was riding back-to-back thirds going into Madera Speedway, the same track where the eventual Lucas Oil Mod Kart champ made her stock car debut in 2016.

Huddleston won the pole while Deegan, rocking new sponsorship from 5.11 Tactical on her #16, qualified third. Although Huddleston led for much of the night, cautions bunched the field several times. Deegan collided with Mason Massey shortly after a restart and spun him, for which she apologized afterward and explained her “brake pedal was super soft. Didn’t have enough pedal there, so I got into him.”

Another wreck with three laps to go set up overtime. Deegan started on the inside and ran side-by-side with Huddleston, tapping his left rear in Turn 3 and getting him slightly loose. Huddleston maintained the advantage at the white flag but Deegan stayed on his inside.

As they went through the final two turns, the two bumped each other again but Deegan had enough momentum to squeeze by for the win. The victory ended a drought spanning seven years, six months, and 29 days (or 2,767 days) dating back to the 2019 season-opening Star Nursery 100.

“I felt like last year, I was in that position and didn’t capitalize on it enough. I told myself today, ‘If I’m there, I’m capitalizing on it. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to win this damn race,’ and we had a car capable of winning it,” said Deegan in Victory Lane.

“I’m, like, tearing up right now. It’s been a long time since I won a race. I want to say thank you to everyone who still believed in me. It’s been hard. Even my filmer’s crying right now. It’s been super hard, and just to see everyone still supporting me these days is amazing. It doesn’t go unseen. I appreciate every single one of you.

“It’s crazy to look back at the different things I’ve got to experience throughout my years, the highs, the lows, I appreciate every single bit of it, even the low days.”

The win moves Deegan up to fourth in the ARCA West points. Huddleston still heads with three races to go.

Troy Brown, the CEO of 5.11, commented, “What a drive. Crushed it tonight. Proud to be part of Hailie’s journey!”

Madera 150 results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	3	16	Hailie Deegan	Bill McAnally Racing	Chevrolet	157
2	1	50	Trevor Huddleston	High Point Racing	Ford	157
3	7	13	Kenna Mitchell	Central Coast Racing	Ford	157
4	6	1	Robbie Kennealy	Jan’s Towing Racing	Ford	157
5	2	19	Mason Massey	Bill McAnally Racing	Chevrolet	157
6	11	88	Joey Iest	Naake-Klauer Motorsports	Ford	157
7	9	21	Ethan Nascimento	Nascimento Motorsports	Chevrolet	157
8	12	25	Will Robinson	Nitro Motorsports	Toyota	157
9	8	55	Andrew Chapman	High Point Racing	Ford	157
10	17	66	Eric Rhead	66 Rhead Racing	Chevrolet	157
11	15	77	Donald Witkowski	Performance P-1 Motorsports	Toyota	157
12	13	4	Wyatt Flowers	Nascimento Motorsports	Toyota	157
13	4	15	Mia Lovell	Nitro Motorsports	Toyota	157
14	18	51	Tyler Tomassi	Strike Mamba Racing	Chevrolet	157
15	16	5	Eric Johnson Jr.	Jerry Pitts Racing	Toyota	155
16	14	04	Ian Wood	Kart Idaho Racing	Chevrolet	153
17	20	72	Josiah Reaume	Strike Mamba Racing	Chevrolet	152
18	1	05	David Smith	Shockwave Motorsports	Toyota	152
19	5	7	Gavin Ray	Jerry Pitts Racing	Toyota	80
20	21	38	Ray Bolinger	Kart Idaho Racing	Toyota	56
21	10	71	Cole Denton	Jan’s Towing Racing	Ford	25