NASCAR Truck: Hailie Deegan sent to sensitivity training

By AMANDA VINCENT

Hailie Deegan, a 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie, is being required by NASCAR to take sensitivity training after using an offensive word during a virtual race broadcast on Twitch on Sunday. According to a report on NASCAR.com, Deegan used a word “that disparages those with intellectual disabilities.”

Deegan apologized via Twitter on Sunday night.

“Earlier tonight I used an insensitive word during an online race being broadcast on twitch,” Deegan (@HailieDeegan) tweeted. “It was inappropriate slang and a stupid thing to do. I apologize to everyone who was offended by it. There’s no excuse for it, and I know I have to do better for my sponsors and my fans.”

Sunday’s incident isn’t the first time the Ford developmental driver has said something controversial. Last September, she referred to COVID-19 as a “hoax” during an episode of “The Deegans Podcast.”

Deegan is slated to contest the entire 2021 Truck Series schedule as a driver for David Gilliland Racing. She made her series debut at Kansas Speedway near Kansas City last October. She finished 16th in her only Truck Series start, to date. She also competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series last season, posting four top-fives and 17 top-10s in 20 races.

Deegan is a three-time winner in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, now known as the ARCA Menards Series West, after competing full-time in that series in 2018 and 2019.

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Posted by Amanda on January 12, 2021. Filed under Breaking News,Camping World Truck Series,Featured,NASCAR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry