Rising female NASCAR star wins race in Las Vegas on last-lap
17-year-old NASCAR star Hailie Deegan takes home her second big win at the K&N Pro Series West race in Las Vegas.
Teen racer Hailie Deegan and veteran Todd Souza added fuel to a racing rivalry this weekend following NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series West race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois.
Deegan and Souza’s vehicles made contact on the final restart, which resulted in a hole in the rear bumper of Souza’s car.
“She jacked me up going into Turn 1 underneath the rear of my car,” the 54-year-old Souza said, according to NASCAR Home Tracks. “We hadn’t been around her all race. We were a little bit off, fought back, got our lap back, made some changes and got the car better. I guess she caught the lucky dog after she went a lap down from the tire blowout she had, and I guess she thought that was a desperate move for her, to start moving people with her car.”
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Tensions between both parties intensified after the race near the garage area, according to Home Tracks:
Deegan returned to her hauler to see Souza and his crew chief, Michael Munoz, visibly and audibly frustrated. The two needed to be restrained by Bill McAnally Racing general manager Kevin Bellicourt, as they were voicing their displeasure at Deegan’s crew chief Kyle Wolosek.
Deegan alleged Souza “cussed me out” during the heated exchange.
Hailie Deegan, 18, alleged Souza "cussed" her out after NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series West race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I was a little nervous there for a second. He started coming in my trailer as I was sitting down. There was a brief second where I thought he was going to do something there,” the 18-year-old said.
Deegan finished ninth in the Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic 125 and Souza placed 10th. He promised retribution in the next event.
“We’re going to some bigger tracks later in the year and there will be a payback,” Souza said, also likening Deegan’s driving habits to those of “a spoiled rotten little baby.”
As for Deegan, she maintains she “wasn’t going to take him out.”
“I think he thought I was trying to dump him or something,” Deegan said. “I didn’t need a caution, we were coming to the end. He was in the way, he moved out of the way and moved up. It’s not like I came cross his nose and tried to take him out again.”
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“I needed to go. I have positions to get, every point matters when it comes down to the championship,” she also noted.
Four races remain in the K&N Pro Series West schedule.