Deegan’s Consistent Season Hits First Bump in the Road at Tri-City

Hailie Deegan finished 14th in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series West race at Tri-City Raceway after an accident in the second half of the 150-lap event ended an otherwise competitive evening for the No. 16 Columbia Bank team.

After starting the NAPA Auto Care 150 Greg Biffle Memorial from third, Deegan ran inside the top five throughout the opening portion of the race and maintained pace with the lead pack while creating a gap to the cars behind. Following a restart on lap 30, Deegan slipped from third to fourth after the second-place car checked up ahead of her, but she continued to battle inside the top five on the difficult-to-pass half-mile oval.

The Temecula, Calif., native ran eighth at the halfway break after battling the balance of her No. 16 Columbia Bank Chevrolet SS. The team serviced the Bill McAnally Racing machine with four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment during the midway stop before Deegan restarted eighth on lap 80.

Running eighth when a caution flew on lap 103, Deegan was collected in an accident five laps later while attempting to avoid an incident ahead. The resulting front-end damage required extensive repairs on pit road and ultimately ended the team’s race. Deegan was credited with a 14th-place finish.

“We ended up qualifying third and ran in the top three in the beginning of the race,” Deegan remarked. “We just struggled with the long run speed towards the end and got caught up in a wreck. Hopefully we can change our luck at Sonoma.”

Start / Finish: 3 / 14
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 262 pts. (-51)

Next Race: Friday, June 26, Sonoma Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 6:30 p.m. ET on Floracing.com

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