Mike Hembree| USA TODAY
TEMECULA, Calif. — Brian Deegan has a bulldozer and a daughter who can drive fast.
In the modern motor sports environment, this is a good combination.
Behind the Deegans’ modern home southeast of Los Angeles is a 31-acre spread of rolling hills into which Deegan has carved a playground of tracks and trails for off-road trucks and motorcycles.
It has been a proving ground and learning laboratory for his daughter, Hailie, a 16-year-old who could be the answer to this question: Post-Danica Patrick, who will be the next female to make big noise at the forward edges of auto racing?
Beyond that, Deegan likely will be involved in the search for something that hasn’t occurred in the almost 70-year history of the NASCAR Cup Series — a victory by a woman.
Toyota Racing Development picked Deegan to be part of its heavily-funded program designed to put one or more women in Cup racing and, eventually, into victory lane.
Deegan appears to have all of the qualities necessary to make a run at what, to date, has been an imposing mountain. She is bright, articulate and mature beyond her years. She has a family that lives and breathes motor sports. And she has that “something” that makes racers go fast in difficult situations.
“She’s fearless,” said Bill McAnally, whose cars Deegan is driving this year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. “I haven’t gotten her to cry yet because I haven’t found her breaking point. I think she’s got everything that’s needed other than the experience, and we’re giving that to her.”
NEXT DANICA?: For most women, breaking through 'asphalt ceiling' proves elusive
PRITCHETT: NHRA embraces diversity in drivers at all levels
Hailie needs to look only across her living room for a blueprint for success. Her father, Brian, is a successful motocross racer and X Games motorcycle star and now races off-road trucks.
Hailie’s younger brothers Haiden (12) and Hudson (8) complete the family motor sports lineup as motocross racers.
Brian Deegan understands the difficulties associated with advancing a woman to the highest levels of auto racing. He has studied others who have traveled the same road and is trying what he considers new approaches with his daughter.
“Why hasn’t a girl made it yet?” he asked. “Maybe it’s because the system they’re using wasn’t the right system to get a girl there yet. So I said, ‘Let’s try our system,’ along with the best equipment.”
That system involves what Deegan calls an “all-in” approach that makes every week count. Beyond her scheduled K&N races, Hailie is in some sort of racing vehicle virtually every day. She practices at nearby Irwindale Speedway with other drivers in “real-time” racing situations — passes in tight corners, running two-wide through turns, responding to aggressive bumping from behind.
In the Deegans’ “backyard,” she and Brian often race each other in off-road trucks. The action obviously is quite different from asphalt stock car racing, but each run adds to her experience level and sharpens her responses and reactions.
“It’s easy to go out and go pedal to the metal and go fast,” Brian Deegan said. “That’s not how you build technique. Speed will come. You have to work on technique. Is dirt racing teaching her everything she needs to know about circle-track asphalt? No, but it’s a good foundation.”
The biggest change from off-road vehicles, in which Hailie won championships, to stock cars is trying to make small gains every lap.
“The biggest challenge now is the preciseness,” she said. “In off-road racing, you can hit someone and not worry about spinning them out. In stock car racing, you’re only inches away. I’m fine-tuning that.”
Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick raced against Deegan recently in a K&N race at Bakersfield, Calif. He drove behind her for several laps before eventually passing.
Harvick, not a man given to quick praise, picked Deegan from the Bakersfield race field as the driver with the most potential. “I think as far as potential and reach and just racing knowledge and getting in a car as young as she is, she would be the one I would pluck out of the series and say, ‘That’s the one we want to be a part of,’ ” he said.
In the Bakersfield race, Deegan showed no signs of melting despite the pressure of one of America’s best stock car racers a few inches from her rear bumper.
“To have a good car is a confidence booster,” she said. “With everything like it is now, I have pressure on me, but I don’t usually crack under pressure. I know I have a solid top-five car. I don’t have to worry about the car, just myself.”
The Deegans’ dedication to racing, and in particular to Hailie getting the best shot at the big time, is illustrated at every turn.
She has been home-schooled and will graduate from high school in May, two years early, so that even more of her time can be devoted to racing and practice sessions.
Although the family will retain its primary residence in Temecula, the Deegans are building a new house about an hour from Charlotte so they can be closer to NASCAR’s heartland.
Hailie’s mother, Marissa, sometimes looks into Hailie’s bedroom and finds her watching videos from various tracks where she eventually will race.
“I still have my girly side,” Hailie said. “I like curling my hair and wearing makeup. But I love racing, and I’m willing to give up things for racing. To give all that up is going to be worth it in the end.”
Only time – and thousands of circle-track laps — will tell if Deegan can reach — and win in — the major leagues.
“The goal is to qualify up front, race with the lead group and win races,” Brian Deegan said. “Let’s go all in. We want to get a girl there. Imagine if we get a girl to win races. Imagine the value in that.”
