"That's not cool": When IndyCar champ Paul Tracy confronted Hailie Deegan after SRX crash and walked off

The Superstar Racing Experience championship was founded by revered names from the motorsport sphere, with Hailie Deegan and former IndyCar champion Paul Tracy once being a part of it. Though the series sought to bring another platform for decorated racing drivers to showcase their skills, the pair collided at the race in Slinger Speedway in 2021, leading the Canadian driver to have an anger-charged moment.

Deegan was a famous name in the stock car racing scene for the past few years. She had been climbing the NASCAR ladder and was reckoned to be the next female driver to reach the top league of racing, much like Danica Patrick.

With the Deegan family heritage already bringing a set of cameras that followed her life, she was deemed to be an ideal driver for the Superstar Racing Experience championship, which was formed by former NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. The 23-year-old raced part-time in the series and made her debut at the Knoxville Speedway.

Though she was able to claim the runners-up spot at the chequered flag, her race was not flawless as Deegan had collided with Paul Tracy midway through the race. While the California-born driver later went over to apologise and reveal how she did not intentionally spin Tracy, the latter was having none of it and said:

"I'm just so frustrated with people just dumping me... Well that's just not cool." (16:12 onwards)

On the other hand, Hailie Deegan's NASCAR ambitions came to an end after she parted ways with AM Racing last year.

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Hailie Deegan reveals how she deals with criticism in her racing career

Hailie Deegan at the Empire State Building - Source: Getty

Since moving away from the stock racing sphere, the 23-year-old looked at the various prospects and decided to move to the Indy racing ladder for her future. She currently races for HMD Motorsports in the Indy NXT category and is the sole female driver in the series.

Despite the impressive backing and fame supporting her, Deegan's performances in the championship have not been up to par. This has earned her criticism from various people across social media, but she told IndyStar that she does not pay heed to such negative comments, if such people don't have any racing success themselves:

"I really don't value anyone's opinion unless they're above me success-wise. So if some big name driver told me I sucked or I was terrible at this, obviously that would affect me a lot more. But people who have never done it before, it doesn't really affect me at all. I don't understand how people can feel like they can have an opinion about that when they've never done it before."

"At the end of the day, on the outside, I don't know if racing is ready for a fully competitive female. Everyone says they want to push it."

Hailie Deegan sits 19th in the Indy NXT standings at the midway point of the season.