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When Hailie Deegan insisted her car was too tight and wasn’t handling properly, Bill McNally admits he wasn’t sure whether to believe her.

How could a 15-year-old girl driving this type of stock car for the first time already know how to adjust the setup to get the most out of the machine?

It was 2017, and Deegan was one of a dozen young drivers auditioning for the chance to join NASCAR’s K&N West Series, traditionally a proving ground for promising teens with aspirations of one day racing at higher levels. Toyota had asked McNally to come to California’s Irwindale Speedway to watch Deegan’s initial outing in a K&N car and assess if she was good enough to join his race team the following year.

At first, McNally put a baseline setup in Deegan’s car, the one new drivers often use for months before they get a handle on what works best for them. Only after Deegan asked for changes did McNally follow her instructions and then marvel at the results.

“We freed the car up and she did go faster,” McNally said. “Then she came in and wanted it freed up even more and she continued to go faster. I was thoroughly impressed that it was her first time in one of these types of cars, yet she knew what she needed out of it to go faster. Sometimes it takes a young driver a full season to be able to do that.”

Stories like that help illustrate why Deegan might be NASCAR’s best hope of finding the female star it has lacked since Danica Patrick’s retirement last February. The 17-year-old daughter of freestyle motocross legend Brian Deegan possesses the blend of talent, charisma and hunger that NASCAR team owners often covet in a top prospect, regardless of gender.

In her debut season driving for Bill McNally Racing last year, Deegan became the first woman to win a K&N Series race, finished in the top 10 in all but two races she started and earned the series’ rookie of the year award. She won again Thursday in the opening race of the 2019 K&N West season, an early boost to her hopes of capturing the overall championship and proving she’s ready to move on to a higher-profile NASCAR series next year.

View photos Hailie Deegan celebrates a victory during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Star Nursery 100 on Feb. 28, 2019, at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Getty Images) More

Ask Deegan whether she aspires to be NASCAR’s next Danica someday, and the California native will humbly admit she has even greater ambitions. Deegan believes she has the potential to deliver similar marketing clout as Patrick while also emerging as a Cup Series contender the way her victory-less predecessor could not.

Whereas Patrick was already in her late 20s when she transitioned from open-wheel racing to stock cars, Deegan is following a prototypical path from dirt racing to NASCAR’s minor leagues. Her dirt-racing foundation is particularly advantageous as she is accustomed to the absence of traction that occurs when a stock car’s tires get hot running high speeds on pavement and start slipping and sliding through turns.

“Danica got thrown into the lion's den against guys who grew up racing stock cars,” Deegan said.

“She is the best female driver we’ve had so far, but in the end there’s so much more a girl can accomplish that she hasn’t done yet. Obviously, I want to be the first girl to not only make it at the top levels but also be successful doing it.”

While they aren’t at the same physical disadvantage as women competing with men in other sports, female NASCAR drivers still have struggled to make a real impact. Only three women have started a Daytona 500 and none besides Patrick has ever run full-time in the Cup Series, a product of the sport’s longstanding gender stereotypes and the lack of female drivers talented or persistent enough to break down those walls.

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