"I almost died": Hailie Deegan's 'life flashed before her eyes' after big moment during Indy NXT test at Iowa

Hailie Deegan has revealed that she nearly had a big crash during an Indy NXT test at the Iowa Speedway on Monday (June 9). The 23-year-old was one of 21 drivers participating in the one-day open test, with a combined total of 3209 laps completed among them.

The day was divided into two halves - morning session and afternoon session. The Speedway had strong gusts of wind blowing in the morning, coupled with the cooler track, making it tricky for drivers to go full throttle.

Rookie Hailie Deegan, who before Iowa had the experience of only one Indy NXT session on an oval in Nashville, had a big moment in that 'sketchy' session. She momentarily lost control of her No. 38 car in Turn 1 during a run.

In a recent VLOG on her YouTube channel, where she documented that entire day of testing, Deegan also spoke about the hairy moment.

"I almost died. The biggest moment of my entire life. My life flashed before my eyes," she told her HMD Motorsport crew. "After I saved it, I still didn't think I saved it. It still had so much speed carrying into the wall, and it's so dirty up there. It was the biggest moment of my entire life. Dude, when it snapped, it snapped big."

Before returning to the 0.894-mile oval for the afternoon session, the former NASCAR driver described the incident in detail. She said:

"We were good up until I had a big moment where it (the car) stepped out on me. It felt like a massive moment. It stepped out on me in the entry into (Turn) 1, and then I saved it, and it stepped out again, and I corrected. Two of our other teammates already junked it with how windy it was."

Hailie Deegan has a fair share of experience racing on ovals. However, most of it has been in NASCAR's stock cars, from her time racing in the Truck Series, the Xfinity Series, and the ARCA Menards. Indy NXT's open-wheel cars are a completely different beast, presenting her with a steep learning curve.

Hailie Deegan massively lags in pace at the Indy NXT test at Iowa

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

Deegan has been struggling to find the limits of her open-wheel car in Indy NXT, which is a step below IndyCar. She has prioritised learning the ins and outs of the car over chasing quick results. At the Iowa test, she was over 11 mph slower than the quickest driver of the day, Josh Pierson.

She completed 172 laps across two sessions, with a best lap time of 19.4566 seconds and a speed of 165.414 mph. Pierson, on the other hand, clocked in a lap time of 18.275 seconds with a speed of 176.109 mph.

Hailie Deegan was the second-slowest driver, with HMD Motorsports teammate Tommy Smith in last, with a lap time of 19.691 seconds, averaging 163.44 mph. He could've been one of the teammates she was referring to when revealing who 'junked' their cars in the windy session.

The oval test will help Deegan for the upcoming Indy NXT race at the 1.25-mile WWT Raceway oval on Sunday. The qualifying session will take place at 4:30 pm ET on Saturday, with the race at the same time on Sunday.