Hailie Deegan raises questions amid being replaced by Joey Logano at Chicago

It appears that Hailie Deegan may be done for good at AM Racing. The NASCAR driver has removed the team from her social media pages. Joey Logano is driving the No. 15 Xfinity Series car at Chicago this weekend.

When AM Racing announced the change, it was strange. Yes, Hailie Deegan had struggled in 2024. Those issues were most apparent on road courses. But this doesn’t seem like a one-off, it could be the rest of the season.

Dave Green, @NASCARProphecy on X.com, formerly known as Twitter, pointed out the change.

Hailie Deegan has removed AM racing from her Twitter bio. I don’t know if she’s upset about Joey Logano racing her car this weekend or they are going their separate ways. @HailieDeegan @AMRacingNASCAR #NASCAR

— NASCAR Prophecy (@nascarprophecy) July 4, 2024

When AM Racing released the statement on Logano joining the team for Chicago, it felt like something was off. Deegan was not mentioned in any of the quotes from the team or sponsor. Instead, she was mentioned just once in the beginning of the release, noting Logano would be replacing her.

So, Hailie Deegan has not performed to standard this season. There are many things that she could be doing better. Are we sure that the AM Racing car is up to the task, either?

Deegan has been given a ton of chances and she is more or less out of excuses. To play Devil’s Advocate here, I think the letdown at AM Racing has been an all-around effort. Even Christian Rose in the ARCA Menards Series has not performed as well as planned.

Joey Logano on replacing Hailie Deegan

There is more to this story that leads me ot believe Hailie Deegan is fully out at AM Racing. Joey Logano spoke about the deal on the Dale Jr. Download this week. It isn’t like he went looking for a ride.

Logano was approached by AM Racing about the seat. Sounds like it was already available.

“They called me last week and said ‘Hey, we got the seat here for the 15 that seems like it’s going to open up and do you want to drive it?’” Logano explained. “I thought well, I think so. Let me clear with my boss Roger [Penske] and make sure that’s okay and there’s no sponsor conflicts. Once I had all that cleared, it just seemed to make sense on really both ends. That’s what a good deal is when it works on both sides of the deal.

“When you think about AM Racing, they were looking to have an experienced driver in there and get kind of get an idea of where their program’s at and see if I can help them from that perspective. I was looking at it and saying ‘Man, I can get more laps on the Chicago Street Course, can’t be anything bad with that either.’ I felt like that was worth it to me.”

Is this the end of Hailie Deegan at AM Racing? It doesn’t feel like the two parties are on the same page at all. If it is over, will Deegan be able to land another ride in the Truck or Xfinity Series?