First Female Driver To Score Series Victory
Hailie Deegan made history on Saturday night by winning the NAPA AUTO PARTS Idaho 208 at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway and becoming the first female driver to win in the history of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
The 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Temecula, California was making just her 12th start in the West’s oldest stock car series – driving Bill McAnally Racing’s No. 19 Mobil 1 / NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry.
“I was in bed last night thinking, ‘If it comes down, last lap, I’m in second, I’m a car length off of him, what am I going to do?'”, Deegan said. “And I found that Turn 1 spot. I knew what exactly I had to do there. I was doing it to some other people just getting right under them to get them a little light to get them, not wrecking loose, nothing crazy, but enough to just get a little under them and make the pass happen. We did that. I knew exactly what I had to do the last lap. I did it, we executed, and we made it happen.” Deegan edged out BMR teammate Cole Rouse with a last-lap pass to win by .329 seconds and lead a 1-2-3 finish for BMR. Derek Kraus, who led 190 laps in dominating the event ended up third.
“I was behind Cole and I knew we were faster,” Deegan said of the closing laps. “Cole was over driving a little bit and I knew I was faster if I hit my marks. The last few laps I hit my marks. I knew I had to give Cole a little push up in (Turn) 1 to get past him. I gave him a little nudge and got him a little loose and I got under him and we won.”
"WE DID IT!"— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 30, 2018
Saturday was @HailieDeegan's "happiest day of her life," after becoming the first woman in @NASCAR history to win in the K&N Pro Series. pic.twitter.com/q8bApvV2h3
| Race Results | |||||
| R | S | # | Driver | Laps | |
| 1 | 4 | 19 | Hailie Deegan * | 208 | |
| 2 | 3 | 99 | Cole Rouse | 208 | |
| 3 | 1 | 16 | Derek Kraus | 208 | |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | Derek Thorn | 208 | |
| 5 | 2 | 9 | Ryan Partridge | 208 | |
| 6 | 7 | 22 | Trevor Huddleston * | 207 | |
| 7 | 8 | 10 | Matt Levin | 207 | |
| 8 | 6 | 27 | Jeff Jefferson | 207 | |
| 9 | 9 | 43 | Kody Vanderwal | 207 | |
| 10 | 14 | 36 | Sting Ray Robb * | 206 | |
| 11 | 11 | 77 | Andrew Koens * | 205 | |
| 12 | 15 | 32 |
|
182 | |
| 13 | 13 | 8 | Travis Milburn | 151 | |
| 14 | 12 | 11 | Takuma Koga | 47 | |
| 15 | 10 | 91 | Kyle Tellstrom * | 14 | |
| * Rookie Drivers | |||||
Deegan talked about being the first female driver to win in the series.
“It hasn’t even sunk in yet,” she said. “It’s going to be a crazy next couple of days.“I’m so happy that Toyota and Bill took a chance on me this year,” she said. “They took a chance on me – Jack Irving and Toyota, NAPA, and Bill. They’re the ones who took the chance on me and it paid off.”
ICYMI, @HailieDeegan WAS the best overall last night, becoming the first woman in @NASCAR history to win a K&N Pro Series race. pic.twitter.com/XROYxBFhmA— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 30, 2018
Deegan had become the first female to win a pole in the series, setting the fast mark in qualifying at the most recent event on the circuit – at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track earlier this month. Her previous best career finish was second, which she registered on two occasions this year – at Las Vegas (two weeks ago) and at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon in June. That tied the series’ record for highest finish by a woman in either the K&N Pro Series East or West.
With her win, Deegan regained the lead in rookie points for the series and moved to fifth in the overall championship standings. In 12 starts, she has one win, five top-five, and 10 top-10 series finishes.
| 2018 K&N Pro Series Point Standings | ||||
| Driver | Races | Points | Diff | |
| 1 | Derek Thorn | 12 | 505 | |
| 2 | Ryan Partridge | 12 | 473 | -32 |
| 3 | Cole Rouse | 12 | 473 | -32 |
| 4 | Derek Kraus | 12 | 466 | -39 |
| 5 | Hailie Deegan | 12 | 438 | -67 |
| 6 | Trevor Huddleston | 12 | 430 | -75 |
| 7 | Kody Vanderwal | 12 | 412 | -93 |
| 8 | Matt Levin | 11 | 354 | -151 |
| 9 | Takuma Koga | 12 | 333 | -172 |
| 10 | Todd Souza | 8 | 237 | -268 |
| 11 | Will Rodgers | 7 | 230 | -275 |
| 12 | Bill Kann | 7 | 225 | -280 |
| 13 | Jesse Iwuji | 6 | 156 | -349 |
| 14 | Vanessa Robinson | 4 | 143 | -362 |
| 15 | Devin Dodson | 4 | 142 | -363 |
| 16 | Ron Norman | 4 | 131 | -374 |
| 17 | Cole Keatts | 3 | 113 | -392 |
| 18 | Rich DeLong III | 4 | 105 | -400 |
| 19 | Cassie Gannis | 3 | 86 | -419 |
| 20 | Travis Milburn | 3 | 83 | -422 |
| (Top Twenty) | ||||
Deegan has won multiple championships in off-road racing, where she began her racing career at the age of 8. Her racing resume also includes competition in late models and super late models.
The Meridian race is slated to be televised on NBCSN on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. PT.
The next event on the K&N Pro Series West schedule will be the NAPA AutoCare / Roseville Toyota 200 presented by TriCo Welding Supplies & the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at All American Speedway in Roseville, California on Oct. 13.
LAST GOAL ✅!!! WE DID IT pic.twitter.com/ypjJWDMDt9— Hailie Deegan (@HailieDeegan) September 30, 2018
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) September 30, 2018
— Bill McAnally Racing (@BMR_NASCAR) September 30, 2018
Dude !! She won !!!! @hailiedeegan #nascar #history !! So proud ! Thank you ! @toyotaracing naparacingteam @bmr_nascar @monsterenergy @odyssey_battery #Deegan38 https://t.co/5Xd4jI3Yti— Brian Deegan #38 (@mmgeneral) September 30, 2018
Just woke up to see the news that @HailieDeegan won last night at Meridian Speedway! Hailie is the real deal. Congrats to HD and her family — I know how much this means to them. @deegan— Kaitlyn Vincie (@kaitlynvincie) September 30, 2018
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