“We were racing for second” - Hailie Deegan praises ever-consistent Tony Stewart after finishing 2nd in SRX Racing at Eldora

Rising NASCAR star Hailie Deegan impressed everyone yet again with her second-place finish in SRX Racing at Eldora. She finished only behind Tony Stewart.

The 22-year-old once again proved that she is a force to be reckoned with in the dirt and displayed exceptional skills behind the wheel. It wasn't the easiest of races for the young star after she got into a collision, which damaged her car.

Undeterred by the crash, she jumped into a backup car and gained a chunk load of places to get to second. But in her post-race interview, Hailie Deegan claimed that she was racing for second place as she wasn't a match for Stewart. She said (via Essentially Sports):

"I honestly think we were racing for second there. I think that was the best we were gonna get. He (Tony Stewart) is just too good here. He is too consistent. And overall, I thought we were fast but I don’t think we were as consistent as him.”

Hailie Deegan added that she could not really challenge Stewart at the end, saying:

“Honestly I don’t think there was. I’d say I’d have to have moved in, in some way shape, or form, and which isn’t easy here without playing someone in the fence. So I don’t really I don’t like racing like that, especially someone like Tony, probably not someone I would ever race like that. And so I kind of knew we were racing for second tonight which I’m okay with.”

Hailie Deegan expresses her frustration with the red-flag incident

Hailie Deegan stated that she had not been on the receiving end of a crash of this magnitude and hadn't experienced anything similar in her young career. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver said:

“Yeah, I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Just I know a lot of drivers have the recently, but I haven’t yet until tonight. But it was Austin that ended up blowing up in front of me, or a radiator hose blew off whatever it was.

"It poured a bunch of fluid on the track, and I was right behind him, right hooked up behind him, and it immediately like just straight lined the fence and my car. Nothing like it’s not like anything happened to my car or anything on entry that made it do that. It’s literally just the fluid on the track. So it was out of our control."

Despite many impressive performances in her first full-time season, Hailie Deegan has yet to win a race, something she would like to change soon.