Photo Credit: RTD Media via Toney Driver Development/Hailie Deegan Racing

After previously running a combined 87 races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Hailie Deegan will make her open-wheel debut in the Formula Regional Americas Championship next month at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Formula Regional Americas Championship is one of a handful of series around the world which run a car which is meant to be a stepping stone between Formula 3 and Formula 4 racing. Deegan will not be the first driver with NASCAR experience to step in a Formula Regional Americas car, as Jimmie Johnson tested one at Barber Motorsports Park to prepare for his first race in IndyCar.

The series itself has been a proving ground for numerous IndyCar talents who have risen through the ranks, with Kyle Kirkwood, Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson all having won titles in the series since it was established in 2018. The reigning Formula Regional Americas champion, Callum Hedge, finished fourth in Indy NXT this season.

Deegan will race for newly-formed Toney Driver Development, a team owned by Nathan Toney, an engineer for Indy NXT’s HMD Motorsports. Toney will run two cars at the Circuit of the Americas this November, with the other being piloted by Brady Golan, a Texan driver with multiple years of junior-series open-wheel experience who finished 12th in the USF Juniors series this year.

Deegan also got a chance to test the car she will be racing in at Putnam Park in Indiana last month under Toney’s supervision.

“I’m beyond excited to be making my first open-wheel start at Circuit of the Americas with TDD,” Deegan said in a press release distributed by RTD Media. “I have competed in a handful of races at COTA, and I am looking forward to my first open-wheel race start being at a track I’m familiar with. Standing starts will be new for me, but I’m always up for a challenge and the opportunity to continue to learn and drive.”

Deegan finished 16th in her last NASCAR race at the Circuit of the Americas: a truck series race in 2023.

For more details regarding Formula Regional Americas, including details on the races at the Circuit of the Americas on Nov. 1 – Nov. 3, check out framericas.com