Deegan Battles Back in History-Making Portland Start
| Race Results Venue: Portland International Raceway FINISH: 3rd Start: 6th AMSW Point Standings Position: 6th |
| Hailie Deegan recorded her first podium finish of the 2026 season Saturday at Portland International Raceway (PIR), finishing third in an up-and-down 57-lap ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) race. The result came in a history-making start for Deegan, who made her 35th career ARCA start, setting the record for the most career starts by a woman. The third place result was her best finish of the season and best career at a road course. Deegan started sixth and quickly moved into the top five, passing teammate Mason Massey on lap eight to move into fourth before battling for third. She continued running near the front through the opening half of the race, spending several laps challenging for third before falling back to fifth in a three-wide battle. She remained inside the top-five before dropping through the field with an apparent issue, falling back to 16th by the halfway break. The Temecula, Calif. native began working her way back through the field after the halfway break, moving to 13th on lap 34 and 11th by lap 38. She passed the points leader on lap 44 to move into the top-10 before gaining three positions on the lap 51 restart to reach seventh. Deegan moved to fifth through the opening corner on the final restart and continued to gain ground as the field battled for the victory. When the two cars ahead ran each other off the track on the final lap, Deegan moved into third to secure her first podium finish of the season and cap her record-setting day with a top-three finish. Hailie Deegan Quote: “I am super happy to get my first podium of the season. The day certainly brought challenges, but this Columbia Bank team never gave up and we made a charge in the closing laps to finish third. It felt good to finally have a great result and we need to build on this run next race at All American Speedway.” |
