In her Xfinity Series debut at Talladega, Hailie Deegan placed a career-best P12 as the fourth-highest finishing Ford at the Ag-Pro 300. On a day that saw Chevy clinch top finishes, Deegan was disappointed in failing to ensure a top-10 finish amidst the battle of the underdogs.
Surprisingly, AM Racing’s #15 team’s radio chatter revealed Deegan’s frustrations towards Stewart-Haas rookie and fellow Ford driver, Riley Herbst. The big issue? Herbst making big passes and not helping Deegan on the final lap for a winning push. Now Herbst has broken radio silence to state his opinions over the seemingly unwarranted criticisms he faces.
At the onset of the Ag-Pro 300, Hailie Deegan qualified in P31 while Riley Herbst’s #98 SHR Mustang started from the eighth spot. After pole-winner Austin Hill and race-winner Jesse Love swept both stages for Richard Childress Racing, Herbst and Deegan found themselves within the top 10 competing cars on the final overtime restart.
However, Herbst hungry for his second Xfinity Series win made several crucial passes to get past eight other contenders for a season-best-yet P2 finish, while Deegan scored her own, ten spots down. But the situation in question here is when the #98 car rejected the #15’s invitation to bump-draft, expecting a push from behind. Herbst then just followed to cut to the outside lane and sped past Deegan. This brought about frustrations amongst the #15 camp and Deegan. Even Denny Hamlin spoke out recently on Actions Detrimental over how Herbst should’ve just ‘pushed’ his Ford Performance
But before his Dover advance, the 25-year-old prodigy for Tony Stewart’s race team had an integral question for his critics. “I’ve heard everybody’s opinions… I just don’t understand. Am I not allowed to pass people on a green-white-checkered?” Herbst said as per NBC Sports. Understandably ‘baffled’ by the recent unravelings, the #98 driver explained, “I don’t think if I would have pushed her I’d had a better opportunity to win… if you look on the (final) lap, I did the same thing with the 21 car (Austin Hill) through (Turns) 3 and 4, so it just wasn’t really her.”
Regardless, Deegan also understandably upset, expressed her emotions in a YouTube video before her Xfinity Series debut at Dover this Saturday.
