Hailie Deegan "bummed" after 10-car Indy NXT pile-up at Detroit ruins her weekend

Hailie Deegan got collected in a massive wreck at the Indy NXT Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday. On the first lap, 10 cars were involved in a pile-up in Turn 4, which began with Callum Hedge hitting Myles Rowe's car on the rear, causing him to spin.

While Hedge escaped and exited the turn, there was carnage behind. Only two drivers made it through before the pile-up. Hailie Deegan's No. 38 HMD Motorsports car was at the back of the pile, but fortunately undamaged until Ricardo Escotto, who started in last position, arrived on the scene and drove into her.

Deegan explained her plight on her Snapchat story and reviewed her Detroit GP outing, saying:

"Well guys, that kind of sucked. Lap one, there was a massive wreck hogging up the track. Got absolutely smoked. I ended up getting stopped in time, barely tapped in front of me, not enough to damage, and then I got smoked by someone else from behind. It killed the front wing and also broke something in the rear. So we had to come to pit road, make few changes. Had to change the bars in the back, 'coz the bar was all bent and stuff. So they got that changed."

After her team made repairs on her No. 38 car, the former NASCAR driver returned to racing. Unfortunately, she was a few laps down and looking to just get through the race cleanly.

"We were like three laps down (after it). So we were kind of out from the start. So made laps, learnt, ran my fastest lap during the race, so I was happy with that. Had some good data to look at, but bummed on how it started. What a long race, didn't even make three corners for a wreck."

A snapshot of Hailie Deegan's Snapchat story (@hailiedeegan)

Until that wreck in Detroit, Hailie Deegan was having a clean rookie season in Indy NXT. She was involved in no crashes, and the only sketchy moment she had was going off the track and nearly losing her car on the exit of Turn 1 at Barber.

She eventually finished the Detroit GP five laps down. Yet, her finishing position of P16 was two places higher than where she started after a tough qualifying session on Saturday.

Hailie Deegan's focus remains on learning rather than quick results

Hailie Deegan drives her No. 38 Indy NXT car at the Indianapolis Grand Prix - Source: Getty

On several occasions this season, Hailie Deegan has emphasised how her focus is to learn the ins and outs of open-wheel cars. Before the 2025 Indy NXT season, the 23-year-old raced primarily in NASCAR's stock cars and dabbled in dirt racing.

After the Indianapolis Grand Prix in May, Deegan shared how her performance has been on the up with each passing race weekend, with lap times improving consistently.

"Every time I hit the track, I'm improving. So that's kind of my goal. Keep chipping away at it, chipping away at it. And there hasn't been a time where I've been on track and gotten backtracked. I've constantly been getting better, so that's constantly my goal for at least these practice sessions," she said on a YouTube VLOG on her channel.

Indy NXT's next race is at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis. It will be Deegan's first race in an open-wheel car on an oval. However, she has gathered some oval experience in Indy NXT this year, having tested at the Nashville Superspeedway in April.