In his place, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano will drive the No. 15 AMR Ford Mustang.
In a press release, the team indicated it hopes to enhance the team’s competitiveness with Logano’s support. Deegan has competed in all 17 races this 12 months with AMR but has not finished higher than twelfth. She also has eight finishes outside the highest 30, a precipitous drop in results after 2023.
Last 12 months, Brett Moffitt drove the No. 15 AMR Ford to at least one top-five and nine top-10 finishes, ending the 12 months fifteenth within the points standings. Deegan is currently twenty seventh, dead last amongst full-time drivers.
Deegan, 22, is a NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie after spending three full seasons within the Truck Series. During that point, she has five top-10 finishes in 69 starts and finished seventeenth within the points standings.
Hailie Deegan, AM Racing, AirBox Ford Mustang
Photo: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsports images
“The level of competition in the Xfinity Series is as competitive as it has ever been,” AM Racing Team President Wade Moore said in a press release. “Our goal at AM Racing is to field a competitive race team through our technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing and to offer each of our drivers with the very best equipment and the chance to succeed on the track every weekend.
“That said, we didn’t have the on-track success we had hoped for in the first half of the season. When the opportunity arose for Joey to get behind the wheel of the car in Chicago, we felt we had to leverage the knowledge and insight that a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion could provide to help our teams grow.”
Moore added: “We intend to take the feedback and data from the Chicago race weekend and use it to build better race cars each week so AM Racing can have a stronger second half of the season.”
Logano has not competed in a NASCAR Xfinity race since 2019, but has 30 wins as an NXS driver. In the inaugural Cup race at Chicago Street Course in 2023, he began ninth and finished eighth.
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang on the Winners' Lane
Photo: Rusty Jones / NKP / Motorsports images
“Racing in the rain on the Chicago Street Course last year was a challenge in itself,” said Logano. “Any extra time in the seat is always positive for a special track like this. Driving NASCAR Xfinity Series cars is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang with high hopes of taking it to the front.”
Logano can be probably the most recent Cup Series winner, earning his first points victory of the 2024 season at Nashville Superspeedway. Earlier this 12 months, he also won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
