GettyHailie Deegan before Darlington race.
After recording a career-best Xfinity Series result of 12th at Talladega, Hailie Deegan has had a couple of rough weeks, including the May 11race at Darlington, where the AM Racing driver finished 36th after being involved in an incident early in the final stage that the Fox cameras missed what caused it.
Soon after the race ended, the rookie driver felt strong enough about what happened to share her version of events on X, a platform she hasn’t posted on since February 23.
Before everyone jumps to conclusions, I was on the top lane and the 07 (who was a lap down) doored me off turn 4 and it cut my LR tire. I kept it out of the wall when my tire shredded but without the door foam we weren’t allowed to keep going. Not my fault they don’t have a…
“Before everyone jumps to conclusions, I was on the top laneandthe 07 (who was a lap down) doored me off turn4andit cut my LR tire,” Deegan said.“I kept it out of the wall when my tire shreddedbutwithout the doorfoamwe weren’t allowed to keep going.Not my fault they don’t have a replay.”
Hailie Deegan Causes Crash at Dover
Hailie Deegan’s final words in her quote say it all — they don’t have a replay. Second verse, sameas the first.
The 22-year-old remembers what happened several weeks earlier and the last time Xfinity cars were on track during the April 27 Dover race.
In that event, the No. 15 pilot caused a crash on Lap 5.
@hailiedeegan accepted responsibility for causing an accident in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was trying to get up,” Deegan said moments after the incident happened over the team radio.
“Yeah, 10-4,” the spotter responded. “We’ll take a look at it here.”
Several minutes later, she again accepted the blame.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I thought I could get up real quick.Wasa half-up. I think Ijustmight have taken too longandthe hole closed.”
Hailie Deegan Not Blamed for Crash by JJ Yeley
While Hailie Deegan took responsibility for what happened over the team radio, JJ Yeley, who was also involved in the accident, provided a different version of events based on what he saw. Interestingly, he didn’t blame the AM Racing driver but Dawson Cram, initially on the team radio and then in his post-race interview.
“I’m fine. What a dumbass move by the 4,” Yeley said over the radio.
JJ Yeley after the wreck. Obviously not happy with Dawson Cram.
During his visit with reporters, Yeley again pointed the finger at Cram.
“I followed him from the start. He was having a hard time holding his lane,” the veteran driver pointed out. “His racetrack awareness isn’t there. If he has to rely on his spotter to know where cars are, hejust doesn’t as a race car driver.
“He clearly could see the 15 was where she was at. Again, we were early in the raceandshe was dropping like an anchor. Like he would try toforce thesituation like that. Takeout a couple of race cars. It’s not his first time doing it. At some point, he’ll figure it outorsomeone will have to figure it out for him.”
Fox Cameras Created Confusion at Dover
There was a reason for two dramatically different versions of events at Dover and fans watching at home weren’t clear about what happened. The Fox cameras totallymissed it.
Unsurprisingly, Cram took to X and tried to clear the air.
Since there’s no replay, you can very clearly see me check up when it became obvious the 15 thought she was clear and wasn’t. Hate to see cars are torn up but that was a racing deal
“Since there’s no replay, you can very clearly see me check-up when it became obvious the 15 thought she was clear and wasn’t,” the driver posted on X. “Hate to see carsare torn upbutthat was a racing deal.”
Since there’s no replay. Cram’s choice of words sounds very familiar. Back-to-back Xfinity races and two drivers pointing out how Fox missed the replay of an incident. It’s been an all-too-common theme all season.
The Xfinity Series will be moving to The CW in 2025. For fans and drivers, it can’t get here soon enough.
Kyle Dalton covers NASCAR for Heavy.com. He has more than 30 years of experience covering high school, college and professional sports, including stories for the Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio-Express News, Detroit News and Sportscasting.com. More about Kyle Dalton
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