"It's so wild to me": Hailie Deegan compares IndyCar and NASCAR in surprising revelation

Indy NXT star Hailie Deegan has compared the differences in preparations for a NASCAR race and for IndyCar. The 23-year-old arrived at the World Wide Technology Raceway for the upcoming Indy NXT race and was questioned about her preparations by a reporter.

Deegan began her career racing on dirt circuits, just like her father Brian Deegan, and moved to race on the tarmac. She raced in the NASCAR K&N championship, ARCA Menards, NASCAR Camping World Truck championships, and Xfinity Series before she decided to make the American open-wheel racing move.

AUTO: MAY 10 INDYNXT Indianapolis Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Hailie Deegan made her open-wheel racing debut last year when she for the opportunity to compete in the Formula Regional Americas championship, and later announced her move to HMD Motorsports in Indy NXT. As Deegan arrived in the paddock for the race in Gateway, she was questioned about how her preparations for the race had been different in Indy NXT in comparison to the stock car championships.

“Yeah, I mean, I think I spent, in the ARCA stuff, we spent a lot of time on the simulator, a lot a lot of time on the actual like manufacturer sim, which we don't really do that in this stuff. So, I spent a lot of time in iRacing but still like, I'm driving the IndyCar on iRacing, it's not Indy NXT car,” she shared via Frontstretch (2:45 onwards)

“I feel like that's the most comparable thing speed-wise because you can't feel speed on a simulator. And so I feel like driving a car that's faster than what you're going to be in helps a little bit and helps slow it down when you get to the track. Studying a bunch of footage, it helps that HMD has so many teammates because you literally get everyone's data, which is so wild to me that you can do that in this world.”

The 23-year-old went on to reveal how studying the footage of her teammates is another step in her preparation before an Indy NXT race, as she detailed how HMD Motorsports has a large number of drivers, which further helps her cause.

Hailie Deegan’s qualifying redemption at WWTR after a tough start to the season

Moving from stock cars to open-wheel racing is always a challenge for the driver, as the cars have completely different driving dynamics. Hailie Deegan struggled in the first few races, where she was a couple of seconds away from the laptimes of the leaders on one lap pace.

The P14 finish at the season opener at St Petersburg is Deegan's best result so far. She finished outside the Top 15 in the four races that followed St. Pete. However, coming into the World Wide Technology Raceway, Deegan was hopeful of a strong result around the oval.

Hailie Deegan finished the practice session in P10 and replicated her success practice in qualifying as she will start the Indy NXT race at WWTR in P10.