“She went out getting podiums & beating boys”: When Brian Deegan discussed
daughter Hailie Deegan’s early racing spark

Professional Motocross rider and racer Brian Deegan opened up about
his daughter Hailie Deegan’s racing career on a podcast with Kenny
Wallace earlier this year. During the conversation, Deegan discussed
how he discovered Hailie’s talent and knack for racing.
Deegan joined Wallace on episode 43 of ‘Kenny Conversation’ on the
latter’s YouTube channel. The conversation began with the duo
discussing Deegan’s early life in dirt racing and his rivalry with the
legendary X-games rider Travis Pastrana. Deegan highlighted how he
began in Supercross and Motocross as a privateer, with no support
from OEMs, and gradually moved up the ladder, acquiring
sponsorships.
As the conversation progressed, Wallace spoke about how Hailie
credited her dad for understanding the power of social media at an
early stage and how he was able to get their story out to attract more
sponsors for her and her brothers, Haiden and Hudson. While talking
about his time in NASCAR much later in the video, Deegan pointed out
how he felt Hailie was not suitable for motorsports.

“She (Hailie) was more arts and crafts, like the girl that was, kind of
like that style. I’m like I don’t know you’re not really race material,”
Deegan said (1:00:33 onwards).

However, after some persuasion from his wife, Deegan bought Hailie a
cart to compete in local go-kart competitions. He later bought her a
faster cart, which became a turning point for Hailie’s career. With a
better cart than her first season, Hailie showcased her talent, winning
podiums and defeating boys in the competition.
“She went out and started getting on the podium like started beating
the boys and I was like all right yeah. So then my interest right, I’m
like okay I think she wants to race and so I got behind that,” Deegan
explained (1:01:23 onwards).