Hailie Deegan can thank Joey, kinda; Bubba Wallace gets pushy

Did Joey Logano get Hailie Deegan fired from her Xfinity Series ride?

Whoa, that’s quite a leap. For starters, it could possibly be a mutual “parting of ways” between Deegan and her AM Racing Xfinity Series team. You never know for sure.

The drama began when the team replaced Deegan with Logano for Saturday’s Chicago race, and the two-time Cup champ finished eighth with a team that hadn’t finished better than 15th all year and was usually well below that.

You shouldn’t compare a seasoned champ like Joey to an Xfinity rookie like Hailie, but Joey did sorta show that the No. 15 can run better than it had been.

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Meanwhile, Deegan’s marketing appeal suggests she’ll get at least one more shot, and a lot of folks hope it’s a better all-around fit and definitely hope for better results. If not, she wouldn’t be first driver to come and go.

Bubba Wallace waited all that time to door-slam Alex Bowman?

Yep, through rain delays, cautions, and into the “cool down” lap before broadsiding Bowman in retaliation for Bowman crashing Bubba out of contention earlier — a mistake Bowman admitted and apologized for after the fact.