NASCAR: Hailie Deegan gets Xfinity Ride for 2024, remaining with Ford

Maybe a sedan is the secret to success for Hailie Deegan.

We'll see.

Nearing the end of her third unspectacular season in NASCAR's Truck Series, the popular racer has signed to go Xfinity Series racing full-time beginning in 2024. A multi-year deal was announced Thursday with AM Racing, which joined the Xfinity Series this season with Brett Moffitt driving its No. 25 Ford Mustang.

Deegan will drive a No. 15 Mustang and continue her affiliation with Ford Performance Motorsports.

“I am excited about the opportunity to compete full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, starting next year with AM Racing,” the 22-year-old Deegan said through Thursday's press release. “From the start, the team has been nothing but great to work with, and the vision that Wade has for the team to accomplish align with my values perfectly."

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Based purely on Deegan's Truck Series work, you might question the promotion to NASCAR's second-tier series. Through three seasons and 66 starts, she's posted just five top-10 finishes with a high of sixth. She's coming off an eighth-place finish at Talladega.

But her work in sedans has been more productive.

Prior to the Truck Series, she ran full time in the ARCA Series (2020), finishing third in points with four top-5s and 17 top-10s in 20 starts. In one Xfinity Series race, last season at Las Vegas, she finished a respectable 13th on the lead lap. And she won three times in 28 starts in the ARCA West Series in 2018-19 at the ages of 16 and 17.

But perhaps just as importantly, she's the two-time defending Most Popular Driver in the Truck Series, which suggests she'll maintain one of the most coveted ingredients for a modern racer: Marketing appeal.

AM Racing is owned by Tim Self and based in Statesville, N.C.

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Moffitt, the 2018 Truck Series champ, has nine top-10s and a best finish of fourth this season, his first with AM Racing in the Xfinity Series.

“AM Racing is proud to announce the addition of Hailie to the family,” said AM Racing team president Wade Moore. “We are excited to provide her with a home where she can grow as a cornerstone of our young program."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Hailie Deegan promoted: NASCAR Xfinity Series awaits her in 2024