Hailie Deegan, 17, enters NASCAR history with first win

If NASCAR fans did not know Hailie Deegan's name before Saturday night, they know it now.

The 17-year-old became the first woman to win a K & N Pro Series race.

"Oh my god," said Deegan in Victory Lane, via NASCAR.com. "It must be the best day of my life here. It's not better than that. People do not understand how many days, how many hours did I spend on that. How much work have I done to arrive at this moment. It's just amazing … it's the happiest day of my life. We did it. "

According to NASCAR.com, as a true pro, Deegan has pushed his teammate Bill McAnally Racing's Cole Rouse on the final lap, claiming that it was a scenario she had prepared for:

"I was in bed last night thinking," If I fall on the last lap, I'm in second position, I'm far from him, what am I going to do? Said Deegan. "And I found this point of turn 1. I knew exactly what I had to do there. I was doing it to other people just below them to make them take a step back, not to demolish them, nothing crazy, but enough to just overtake them and pass the pass. We did that. I knew exactly what I had to do in the last lap. I did it, we executed it and we managed it. "

Deegan, one of the most popular drivers of the season, has a long list of goals for the 2018 season; She can now tick all of them in 12 of the 14 K & N Pro Series West races. She wanted to rank among the top 10, the top 5 and the top 3. qualify in the top 5 and then in the top 3; and win a pole, lead a race and eventually win a race.

Until her Saturday night win, her best result was second – which she did twice – and she ranked five in the top 5 and 10 in the top 10.

But Deegan has not only caught the attention of those following the NASCAR regional development series.

Kevin Harvick, a Cup Series driver, recognized his talent when he raced against her at a K & N Pro Series event in his hometown of Bakersfield, California, earlier this year. Subsequently, he said about Deegan, via USA TODAY Sports:

"I think that to the extent possible, from the scope of the race and the know-how and getting into a car as young as it is, it would be the one I would have chosen to say : & # 39; C & # 39; is the one with which we want to be part. , "He said.