Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR fans question late caution after Hailie Deegan barely touches the wall at Phoenix

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated 3/9/24

With 64 laps to go in the Xfinity Series race at Phoenix, Hailie Deegan got loos and tapped the wall with her right rear causing a caution. However, Deegan kept her car going straight and it looked, to some NASCAR fans, like a “ghost caution.”

Ever since motorsports began, people have had conspiracies about caution flags. Now, I don’t buy into that too much, but I do think there are such things as bad cautions. This was a bad caution.

Now, NASCAR might have seen some debris on the track, but they did send trucks out to inspect the area. So, they could be justified in throwing the caution. I think they saw Hailie Deegan get into the wall and expected it to be a worse incident.

Zero justification for this being a caution https://t.co/Z4ZvhJKKgn pic.twitter.com/kMHYMMCoPc
— BrakeHard (@BrakeHardBlog) March 9, 2024

This fan is calling it a “ghost caution.” It was hard to see anything really in this incident. There wasn’t any smoke, she didn’t seem to knock her right rear all that hard on the wall. At the very least, it’s questionable.

Then again, there are fans who take it another step.

Ghost caution has returned.
— Opinions on NASCAR (William Richard) (@nascar_opinion) March 9, 2024

There were more than a few people online calling out the move from NASCAR. They even blamed them for the big wreck that happened as a result of the restart afterward.

Thanks NASCAR for causing this big one by throwing a caution before the wreck for no reason
— Mr. Phantom (@TXR019) March 9, 2024

Hailie Deegan would get collected in the big wreck after this caution. She was fighting for a top-15 day and now she’s a DNF. Cautions breed cautions, but no one could have seen Chandler Smith hooking John Hunter Nemechek in the front of the field. Deegan was one of thirteen drivers involved in the wreck.

Hailie Deegan has slowly improved

Since Daytona, Hailie Deegan has improved her finishing position each race. She was on her way to doing that today but is now a DNF. Deegan finished P37 at Daytona. Then P27 at Atlanta. Last week in Las Vegas, she was P15.

AM Racing believes in Deegan. They have a small program over there but big plans. Christian Rose is sitting in the wings in the ARCA Menards Series. He plans on being a championship contender this season. One day the team wants to expand to two full-time teams in Xfinity.

I think we are already seeing Deegan be more comfortable in this series. She has just had a rough go of things early on, as have a lot of drivers this year. If she can just slowly keep chipping away and improving, the results will show.

Hailie Deegan is a rookie in the series and battling with Jesse Love and others for Rookie of the Year. Love has been very good in Phoenix today. Running top-5 late in this race.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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