Logano to replace Deegan at Chicago Street Race

AM Racing has announced that Hailie Deegan will not drive in this weekend’s Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course. Instead, Joey Logano will take control of the No. 15 AMR Ford Mustang.

The team released a statement expressing their intent to enhance their competitiveness with Logano’s input. Deegan has competed in all 17 races this year with AMR, but her best finish has been 12th place. She also has eight finishes outside the top 30, a notable decline from her 2023 performance.

Deegan, 22, is a rookie in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after three full-time seasons in the Truck Series, where she earned five top-ten finishes in 69 starts and achieved a highest points standing of 17th.

AM Racing team president Wade Moore said in a press release, “It is our goal at AM Racing to field a competitive race team through our technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing and provide any of our drivers the best equipment and opportunity to be successful on track each weekend.”

“With that being said, we haven’t had the success on track that we were hoping for in the first half of the season. When the opportunity to have Joey in the car at Chicago became a possibility, we felt we needed to take advantage of the knowledge and feedback that a two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion could provide to our teams’ growth.”

Moore added, “We intend to take the feedback and data from the Chicago race weekend and apply it to building better race cars each week so AM Racing can have a stronger second half of the season.”

Logano hasn’t competed in a NASCAR Xfinity race since 2019 but has 30 career victories as an NXS driver. In the first Cup race at the Chicago Street Course in 2023, he started ninth and finished eighth. “Racing in the rain on Chicago’s Street Course last year was a challenge within itself,” said Logano. “Any extra seat time is always a positive for unique tracks such as this one. Driving the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars are a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to climbing behind the wheel of the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang, with high hopes to wheel it to the front.”