Hailie Deegan reacts to promising Indy NXT debut at St. Petersburg

In her first taste of Indy NXT race action, Hailie Deegan did what she had to do. Raced clean, brought it home, and finished on the lead lap. No, she was not lightning-quick and didn’t really challenge up front at all, but right now it is about the little things.

Hailie Deegan has not been delusional about her transition to open-wheel racing. She knows that the growing pains are going to be large. Deegan was well off the pace in practice this week.

However, you can’t deny the final result. P14 of 21 cars and she finished on the lead lap. She ended up being the fifth-best rookie out of eight on the track. For her first time at St. Pete and first time in one of these open-wheel cars, I’d call it a success.

Indy NXT season opener results: pic.twitter.com/kgpO57MVug

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 2, 2025

Following the race, Deegan was asked by Dalton Hopkins of Frontstretch about the experience. She was happy, but you can tell it was an eye opener.

“Yeah I mean, I think it was a fun experience. I had a blast. I think my goal for this, I didn’t have like this huge expectation. Especially for this one just because it’s a street course. I don’t want to do anything dumb to where I hurt the car and lose out on track time. So, I kind of went into this weekend like, okay, like 95% cautiously aggressive, learn as much as I can. More so use all the time, valuable time that I could to get experience. So, going into it, I knew I was going to be off a little bit here. I think I’m really looking forward to Barber [Motorsports Park], because I’ve been there before.”

Hailie Deegan was honest about her expectations. Good news, she has more time this season to develop and improve. Winning can wait.

“I think it went fine, my goal was to stay on the lead lap and get all the laps and not end up crashing or doing any damage to the car, using all the valuable time,” Deegan went on. “So, I thought we accomplished what the goal was for myself this weekend.”

The 23-year-old has a lot of time left. With this swap from stock cars to open-wheel, things won’t be podium finishes and confetti. However, she is with an organization and a series that is focused on development and not win-now mentalities for sponsors and teams. Let’s see how she does at Barber Motorsports Park, as she said, a track she knows.