Deegan Plays Thriller with Victory at Madera

Hailie Deegan returned to Victory Lane in dramatic fashion Saturday night, making a last-lap pass to win at Madera Speedway for her first ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) victory since 2019. Deegan started third after posting the second-fastest time in practice and battled among the top five throughout the night before taking the lead on the final lap. The win marked the fourth AMSW victory of her career and the 103rd points-paying win for Bill McAnally Racing.

From the drop of the green flag, Deegan quickly showed long run pace. After dropping back to fourth on the short run, the Temecula, Calif. native quickly moved back up to third and steadily closed the gap to teammate Mason Massey, catching him by lap 75. Heavy lap traffic came into play at the halfway point, and on lap 80, Deegan went three-wide on the bottom for the lead before a caution came out with her running third. She restarted fourth, but fell to fifth with 63 laps remaining and worked her way back to fourth by lap 100 using her long run speed. With 44 laps to go, Deegan used a lapped car as a pick to reclaim third before catching the back of Massey on lap 118.

The fourth caution came on lap 118, and Deegan restarted third on lap 127. On the restart, she dipped low to avoid a spinning Massey, with contact sending her teammate around and bringing out another caution. Deegan restarted second with 12 laps remaining and maintained the position through a series of late-race cautions.

After another caution on lap 149, Deegan restarted second for a two-lap overtime restart. While the race leader elected to restart in the outside lane, Deegan muscled her 5.11 Tactical Chevrolet to the inside and gained leverage on the bottom of the track at the white flag. On the final lap, Deegan was able to surge ahead coming out of Turn 4 to claim the third win for Bill McAnally Racing in 2026 and her first AMSW victory since June 8, 2019 – her most recent full-time season. The return to victory lane continues Deegan’s recent hot streak as she has recorded three-consecutive podium results.

“I can’t believe we did it,” Deegan said after the victory. “I feel like if we’re in position, we need to capitalize on it. Last week we had a shot and we didn’t. Thank you everyone from Bill McAnally, NAPA Auto Care, Columbia Bank, and our new sponsor 5.11. Grateful for all the support this year as this win means a lot for me.”

Start / Finish: 3 / 1
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 465 pts. (-53)

Next Race: Friday, Oct. 2, The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 9:00 p.m. ET on FloRacing

Hailie Deegan: @HailieDeegan
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Bill McAnally Racing / McAnally-Hilgemann Racing: @BMR_NASCAR