Terribly, Deegan’s been doing. There’s no nicer way of saying it without lying. She’s the last of all the full-time drivers and hasn’t even earned a top 10. Now, before we jump to conclusions, let’s understand the full context behind her results and ask if she can improve.
A Strange Team
Deegan’s Indy NXT team, HMD Motorsports, has taken full advantage of the unusual path to Indy. Since 2019, the team has had a total of 45 different drivers across 3 seasons in a series that has never had more than 14 races in a single season.
In 2025 alone, it is running nine different cars with 14 other drivers. There’s a reason why most of even the best and most historic teams don’t expand nearly as much as this. The team has had some drivers come up to IndyCar, like Rasmussen, Kyffin Simpson, Lundqvist, Pedersen, and Malukas!
But for the most part, most drivers like Ernie Francis Jr., Danial Frost, and James Roe were flops that never sat in an IndyCar, and no doubt many of these are brought in to fund many of these rides rather than be competitive themselves.
And considering the team has won multiple driver championships and team championships. While I have no actual evidence, I’ll safely assume that not all rides are given the same funding. So maybe Deegan is suffering from a lack of focus!
Deegan vs. Her Teammates
Deegan has three other full-time drivers to compare herself to. Starting with Brazilian Caio Collet, who’s 2nd in points compared to Deegan, who’s in 17th. Collet is HMD’s best driver so far this year. Has destroyed Deegan 15 to 1 in all races they’ve faced each other, while Collet’s had three fastest laps and a pole compared to Deegan’s none in either category.
But some of you might be going, “That’s not fair after all; clearly HMD put all their eggs in the Collet basket,” so let’s compare her to 1 of her full-time teammates. Fellow American driver Josh Pierson has shared a garage with Deegan and has also never lost to Deegan, with Pierson finishing outside of the top 10 only twice, while Deegan has never finished in the top 10 once this year.
But fine, Pierson does have a year and a half more of experience than Deegan. So, is there a fellow rookie we can compare her to? Why yes, there’s New Zealand’s very own Tommy Smith! Now this is much fairer, as Deegan even beat Smith 14th to 15th in her Indy NXT debut.
Deegan Has a Long Road Ahead
And she would do so six more times, but Smith would ultimately beat her, winning eight times throughout the season. To compare her to some of the part-time HMD drivers. Fellow female racer German Sophia Flörsch competed in the 1st race of the season. Whereas with the same level of experience in the same car, Flörsch beat her out by two spots, finishing in 12th.
She has beaten part-time rookie and ex-F2 driver Juan Manuel Correa 3 times on track, although she hasn’t gotten a podium while he has. Along with the handful of top tens he’s earned, she’s only come close to it at times. So his lows are lower, but his highs are much higher.
Was This Even a Good Idea?!
Before she moved up to the truck series, she had some stock car experience. Racing a season in ARCA and a couple of series in the K&N Pro Series West, where she won 3 races. And even then, Deegan struggled badly in her truck series rookie year and never got back the confidence that made her so great in the west.
Before this year, she hadn’t set foot in an open-wheel car. So it’s no surprise she’s struggling so harshly. If she wants to regain her confidence and live up to her incredible potential, she should return to a form of racing she knows, such as off-roading. Thanks a bunch for reading!
