Hailie Deegan firmly addresses "family money" claims to advance her racing career in IndyCar ladder

Motorsports have been a financially intensive sport for drivers to be in, and Hailie Deegan is no stranger to it. With her family's roots being deeply connected to the motorsport sphere, many reckoned that she would have had an easy time getting her way into the racing scene. But the 23-year-old slammed such claims and revealed how she has stayed away from taking any help from her family in achieving her racing dream.

The female racecar driver's father, Brian Deegan, is a famous motorsport figure himself, and with the advent of the internet, the family rose in popularity with the aid of 'The Deegans' YouTube channel. Brian's children and his wife became ever-present in American households, which helped the growth of their social media platforms.

This led some people to claim that Hailie has had an easier path to get into the motorsports world by not having to contend with the financial barrier that others have to deal with. However, the Indy NXT driver slammed back at such assertions about her and told IndyStar how she has been handling her racing expenses herself

"People don't realize how hard it is to bring in sponsors. My dad was highly successful on the two-wheel side of motorsports, which is about two zeros less than what you need to be in four-wheel motorsports. I'm all sponsor funded. It is not driven by family money whatsoever. Yes, I have the family name, but my parents haven't contributed financially to my racing for a long, long time."

"That's why I've used my social media to bring another value to the table. I could sell a primary sponsorship for a race, but also backend 10 Instagram posts that kind of offsets the price and makes it more favorable for my sponsor. So they both work hand in hand for me."

Meanwhile, Deegan races with HMD Motorsports in the Indy NXT category.

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Hailie Deegan had an uneventful race at the Road America Grand Prix

Hailie Deegan at the 2025 INDYNXT Indianapolis Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Hailie Deegan's Indy NXT venture has not been off to a great start. She was following her dream of becoming a NASCAR driver till last year, but after getting the boot from AM Racing, she decided to ditch the idea of stock car racing altogether.

The 23-year-old then moved to the open-wheel racing sphere, where she joined the Indy NXT series and intended to learn her way up through the ladder. But a 14th-place result at St. Petersburg has been her best result of the 2025 season so far, as Deegan has been unable to get up to pace with the open-wheel racecar.

Reflecting on recording an 18th-place finish at the Road America Grand Prix, the California-born driver said:

"Pretty non-eventful race, it went green the entire time, no wrecks, no cautions, nothing, so I learned a lot throughout the race." (8:57 onwards)

Hailie Deegan is the sole female driver in the Indy racing ladder after Sophia Floersch departed early in the year.