Hailie Deegan has been looking for a seat with Ford Performance after TRICON Garage, formerly David Gilliland Racing, switched over to Toyota which left her without a ride for the 2023 season.
However, there appears to be a solution to the matter. According to RacinBoys’ Lee Spencer, Deegan is expected to take over the No. 98 truck for ThorSport Racing as the organization moves back to the Ford camp.
This seat was opened up when Christian Eckes shockingly became the driver of the No. 19 truck for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing after departing the Toyota camp. Now, the rest of NASCAR silly season has come into the picture.
Related: Hailie Deegan’s future in NASCAR receives a big update
Hailie Deegan expected to join ThorSport Racing, organization to switch manufacturers
Deegan, 21, has struggled in her two years driving in the NASCAR Truck Series with David Gilliland Racing. The former driver of the No. 1 truck has three top-10 finishes and a 21.4 averaging finishing position in 46 career starts.
The expectations for Deegan were high as she became a full-time driver for the 2021 season but those are gone after her struggles. Now, she has an amazing opportunity that can not be wasted.
ThorSport Racing has been with Ford before so this is not new territory. The organization switched from Toyota to Ford, spent three seasons with the manufacturer, and switched to Toyota for the 2021 season.
Now, the Ohio-based team will go back to the Ford camp. ThorSport Racing is one of the Truck Series’ best teams so the expectation should be to win moving forward as they have four series championships.
Deegan cannot afford to mess up this opportunity, as stated above. She will expectedly be in elite equipment for the 2023 season after spending two years in lesser equipment with the now TRICON Garage team.
The duo of Deegan and Ford looked for many rides, including potential options in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but nothing came to fruition. Stewart-Haas Racing was mentioned as an option before Cole Custer took the second seat.
If Deegan wants to reignite her flame as one of NASCAR’s top prospects, it will take a great performance with ThorSport Racing to accomplish that feat. Everything is now being provided to the 21-year-old driver.
This might be a surprise to many people but it will likely end up being Deegan’s best possible scenario from this offseason. There has not been an official announcement made as of now.