"I expect her to be aggressive" - Hailie Deegan's crew chief hopes to make Truck Series playoffs in 2023

Hailie Deegan had a mediocre performance in her first two seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, scoring just three top-10 finishes in 46 starts. One of the factors holding her back in the series was the aggression shown to her by opponent teams' drivers.

After spending two years with David Gilliland Racing, Hailie Deegan has joined ThorSport Racing for the 2023 season. There will be high expectations and a lot of pressure on her to perform going into her third-year in the Truck Series with the Championship-winning team.

One of the biggest aspects of Hailie Deegan’s new contract at ThorSport is that she will be paired with 2021 Truck Series Champion crew chief Rich Lushes

Last week, Lushes made an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio where he spoke about the expectations of his new driver Deegan, including their plans for dealing with aggressive competitors. Lushes said:

“Yeah. We touched on that a little bit. As we get closer to Daytona, we’re touching on it some more. I expect her to be aggressive. I expect her to not take anything from anyone. And I think that’s how she’s going to be and that’s the mindset she’s in right now.”

He also fired a warning to the Truck Series garage to watch out for their new driver:

“I think she’s in a really good place now mentally as far as she knows that she’s going to have a really good shot next year to be competitive, and we’re going to have a really good team, and hopefully, like I said, we’re going to get some top 10s. I don’t think it’s out of reach at all for us to make the playoffs next year.”

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“There’s a lot of respect and I really like that” - Hailie Deegan on Xfinity Series

After Hailie Deegan’s successful debut in the Xfinity Series a few months ago, where she finished in 13th place for SS Greenlight Racing, she spoke about the racing differences between the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series. Speaking to NBC after the race, Deegan said:

“It changes a lot of things being able to finesse with throttle, brake, deciding what to do — dump out of it, crack the throttle — there’s just so many different things that you can do, whereas like the trucks, it’s pretty much one lane, one way, and you kind of just hope for the best.”

She also praised the Xfinity Series drivers for their clean and respectful racing, saying:

“And everyone races very clean in this series, it seems like. There’s a lot of respect and I really like that.”