Hailie Deegan

But it's hard for people to give you a chance until you prove to them that you're worthy.

I'm trying to build a good fanbase, a good army behind me of people and supporters.

Do I influence people? Maybe.

Being over at Ford offers a much clearer path in my development.

Definitely, road courses are something where I lack experience.

You have to bump or throw a block sometimes. Even when it goes wrong, how many times has it worked? I think it's a matter of picking and choosing your battles. You gotta do what you've gotta do to try to get a win.

I'm still learning how to flip that switch on and off. I want to make the most of every opportunity with the least amount of collateral damage. In every race you make smart moves and you take risks.

People wonder where I get my aggressiveness. Since I was 8 I've been racing that way.

When there's a goal ahead of you, you want to move past it, and make a new goal for someone else.

That's what stock-car racing is. You hit someone, or you get hit. That's something I had to learn. It's a key factor in why I'm so aggressive. I don't want to have to hit you. But if you're going to hit me, I'm going to hit you.

I'm so used to being in this racing world. This is what I want to do. I don't like doing anything else.

I've been in a lot of fires.

I'm not going to go out there and set the world on fire and win my first race. People have to understand that. It's going to take time. It's going to take a lot of learning. I think eventually we'll obviously get better with time.

Usually when I talk with other drivers, it's about past races, what they did, tips for different tracks, especially others in the Ford family.

I didn't really know what I was going to do when I was 15, or where I was heading.

You don't see guys being compared with other guys, you base people on your roots in racing. You would think I'd get more compared with people who do dirt racing.

I try really not to focus on what I've accomplished, but what I need to do next, what I'm working towards.

I'm never really just satisfied with where I'm at. I always just want to get better, improve more, learn as much as I can because obviously I have a lot to learn and a lot to get better at so it's all about improvement to me.

I don't think you should compare yourself to anyone else because everyone is in a different situation.

I think what is most important to me is to be competitive week-in and week-out - not winning a race one week and then not finishing.

I'm trying to build relationships with the drivers trying to figure out who is going to help, who is not going to help and who I can trust.

If you're any type of driver, you want to win - end of story.

You don't feel accomplished when you get that first step on the ladder. You feel accomplished when you're on top of the ladder. I want to be on top, and I'm going to do everything in my ability to get there.

I don't want to be cocky, but I want to win a championship and feel that with my team, I have the ability.

My dad has pretty much taught me, he's built this thing with me, he trains with me, practices with me, goes to the gym with me, we battle each other at the go-kart track. We're so competitive with each other, and I feel like we both make each other better because we're so hard on each other, just trying to be the best we can.