Brad Keselowski Discloses Ford’s Reason Behind Rejecting Hailie Deegan for ‘Reserve Driver’s’ Chicago Talent

Things look bleak for Hailie Deegan as Brad Keselowski confirmed that Joey Logano will replace the Xfinity driver on the Chicago Road Course! While Deegan has what it takes, NASCAR is about more than just knowing a few good moves, and Keselowski sees Logano as a better fit for this matter.

Brad Keselowski analyzed why the team took this step; it’s actually quite simple. But that doesn’t take away the disappointment of not seeing a brilliant and passionate driver like Hailie take on the open roads of Chicago for some!

It all comes down to data with Joey Logano!

In a conversation with the media, Brad Keselowski explored the simple fact behind why Logano is a better fit for the upcoming race – he’s the reserve driver for Ford Camp on road course events. A little anti-climatic, but Keselowski notes that it is essential that Logano takes a drive on the tracks with the cars to correlate the simulator data with real-world performance!

“It’s important for him to race the car from time to time to be able to correlate what matters and what doesn’t matter he’s kind of the factor simulation driver as well,” Brad explained to the press. “And just having him here yesterday, walking the track and being able to say that the simulator’s way off in this corner. Throw away all the stuff we studied for that but it’s dead on in this corner and you can trust that data here and those are really valuable things to us.”

To break down what Keselowski is referring to – the Ford team uses a computer program that mimics real-world driving into data that drivers and the team can use to make judgments while on the track. However, the data cannot always be trusted.

With these on-track experiments, Joey Logano can gauge the areas where the simulator is accurate or off, which, per Keselowski, is very valuable information for the team. This lets the team know which parts of the simulator data they can trust and rely on when preparing for any races. While also giving them input on which parts of the simulator data they need to disregard or make an adjustment to because the simulator isn’t capturing that part of the real-world driving experience accurately. It is a computer after all!

So Hailie Deegan being replaced by Logano seems pretty justified at this point. With him being a reserve driver and taking the time to assess the strong and weak points of the road for the drivers, it’s no wonder they chose to forsake Deegan despite her qualifications and appeal to race.

What happens to Deegan’s playoff chances?

As reasonable as Keselowski’s explanation for overlooking Hailie Deegan is, it still cannot be denied that the NASCAR driver was robbed of an opportunity to perform on such an exciting course! So while her future hangs in the balance with this setback, at least we know now that she wasn’t replaced entirely due to a lack of skillset! Not on their account, at least.

Currently, in her debut season with AM Racing, Hailie Deegan has not delivered the most impressive of records. With no wins or top finishes to her name so far, things are looking pretty bleak for her, as she sits in the 28th position in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. So it was almost natural that AM Racing had to take a call and sub in a two-championship-winning driver to take on Chicago instead. It also helps that Logano has the knowledge of data that would help the team excel. It was a win-win situation for everybody, well, except for Deegan.

There hasn’t been an announcement regarding whether this is a one-time thing or if it’s long-term, but this definitely takes a hit on Deegan’s playoff chances for the 2024 season. Tell us your views!