At the heart of every successful NASCAR team is a solid partnership between crew chief and driver. Hailie Deegan, currently 26th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings, has not had the best season so far. With zero wins, zero top-10 finishes, no poles, zero laps led, and a total of three DNFs, it was somewhat obvious that AM Racing was going to make a change to salvage the season. As a result, and as a surprise to many, Matt Lucas replaced crew chief Joe Williams, a move that drew criticism from fans.
However, this decision has caused fans to have a broader debate about Hailie Deegan’s track record and how many crew chiefs she has worked with since her 2018 debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
Why is the relationship between driver and crew chief so important, how Deegan is struggling?
Let’s take a little trip down memory lane. There has not been a more successful crew chief/driver partnership in NASCAR than Richard Petty and Dale Inman. With seven Premier Series championships and 187 wins, including an astounding 27 in 1967 (10 in a row) and seven Daytona 500s, it doesn’t get any better than that. Petty and Inman formed a winning partnership during an era with fewer teams and more than 40 races, ensuring their success.
There are many such examples. Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus won seven championships working together, with 81 victories. Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham won three championships and 47 victories. Their relationship was so close that the condition of Gordon’s move to Hendricks Motorsports was that Ray Evernham be named his crew chief.
But for the AM racing No. 15, who currently stands at No. 33 in the Xfinity Series standings, it seems like the wrong shoe is in place. The driver, who was both the youngest member and the only woman in NASCAR when she joined, there’s still time for her to make a charge up the standings. However, she’s on a multi-year deal with AM Racing, and the decision to select the crew chief lies with the management, not her.
Hailie Deegan has had quite a few crew chiefs since her debut in NASCAR, but maybe it’s because she hasn’t found “the one” where the pair can complement each other. Back in 2023, when Deegan joined Thorsport after racing for David Gilliland Racing, the team shifted 2021 title-winning crew chief Rich LushesfromBen Rhodes to her No. 13 truck, just to improve her chances at success.
Now Hailie Deegan will have a new crew chief for the remainder of the 2024 season, Joe Williams has been relieved of his duties. Matt Lucas will step in as the interim crew chief for Deegan’s team. He’ll be ready to go as early as this Saturday at Portland International Raceway, which makes Lucas the third crew chief in her Xfinity career so far.
However, when talking about her Craftsman Truck Series career, when Hailie Deegan made her full-time debut with the DGR-Crosley team on a full-time basis, it was the former Kyle Busch Motorsports crew chief, Mike Hillman Jr, who joined the team as her crew chief. Later in 2022, Deegan also worked with veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter who called the shots for Deegan’s No. 1 Ford.
The most important requirement for drivers is to have open communication with the person in the pit box. In some situations, the crew chief and driver may not be the right match. If NASCAR history has taught us anything, it’s that once a driver and crew chief are truly a match, their relationship almost guarantees success on the race track. Maybe Hailie Deegan’s time just has not come yet.
Fans on a NASCAR Reddit thread discussed whether Hailie Deegan could be considered a “Crew Chief Killer.” Some fans criticized her driving skills and recent performances as reasons for this viewpoint.
Fans comment on Hailie Deegan’s track record
After going through 12 crew chiefs in six and a half years, it’s not surprising that fans are wondering if the problem lies with Hailie Deegan and not those she works with. One fan wrote: “Deegan seems to be doing a pretty good job of running through crew chiefs, spotters, teams, and series.”
Hailie Deegan’s name recognition and popularity are such that she may be given more leeway than other drivers. The 21-year-old has a successful YouTube channel with 579,000 subscribers, which brings with it enormous marketability. In light of this, one fan commented, “With all the hype and money around her, it makes sense that most teams have tried to move ccs and teams around here instead of replacing her. But I don’t think she’s gonna be around if she can’t pick it up by the end of next year.”
The results in 2024 have not gone Hailie Deegan’s way. She sits -311 points behind the leader in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, without having led a single lap all season, with an average qualifying position of 27 and an average race finish of 25.5. It’s no surprise that one fan wrote, “I wonder how many more times she can fall upwards and the blame can be put on everyone/thing but the driver.”
Do you think some fans’ opinions of Hailie Deegan are justified? Let us know in the comments!
The post NASCAR Fans Hand Hailie Deegan the “Crew Chief Killer” Crown After Shocking Streak Puts Racing Talent Under Scrutiny appeared first on EssentiallySports.
