BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- There's no reason to tell Hailie Deegan that not many women compete in NASCAR's regional series, the series that often serves as the first or second step for a driver aspiring to reach the top level of NASCAR.
"It'd be pretty hard not to notice," she said.
In the past five weeks, Deegan has competed in the opening races in NASCAR's two regional series, the K&N Pro Series East opener Feb. 11 at New Smyrna (Florida) Speedway and then the West opener last Thursday at Kern County (California) Raceway.
The 16-year-old California native, the daughter of X Games motorcycle star Brian Deegan, is aware that as NASCAR seeks a successful female driver, she could eventually fill that gap.
"There's not many girls here, so I've got a pretty good chance," Deegan said. "Everyone is pushing for a girl to come into NASCAR. If you look around here, there's 22 guys and one girl.
"The probability is pretty high. It's just going to take time and a lot of hard work. ... I think we'll get there."
Other than NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who has run in an underfunded ride for several years, there is no other full-time female in any of the NASCAR national series. Deegan wasn't just the only woman driver at the NASCAR West opener -- she also was the only female among the 29 starters at the East opener.
When Danica Patrick retired from NASCAR racing after the Daytona 500, the "who's next?" question -- and in some ways "who's next and who can contend for a playoff spot and wins at a level that Patrick never reached?" -- has no real answers.
"She's probably one of the fiercest female drivers I've ever had in the car," car owner Bill McAnally, who has fielded cars for a handful of women drivers over the past decade, said of Deegan. "You definitely have to pull her back and have some reins on her.
"She's got a bright future. ... At 16 years old, she has a foundation her family built for her doing the off-road stuff. She's fierce. She's hungry. She knows how to compete. She's got it."
Deegan showed that competitive nature and foundation Thursday. She ran either right in front of or right behind Kern County regular Trevor Huddleston the entire race. For several laps, she ran either right in front of or right behind NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick as he tried to rally through the field late in the event.
She settled for seventh, a spot behind Huddleston.
"I got to race with her for a little bit there at the end of the race and she did a great job in the car," Harvick said after his fourth-place finish.
"I think as far as potential and reach and just racing knowledge and getting in a car as young as she is, that would be the one that I would pluck out of the series and say, 'That's the one we want to be a part of.' ... She has a lot of potential and already has some racing experience in multiple vehicles."
The experience of competing in off-road events -- winning a 2016 championship in the mod kart division -- should help Deegan in stock cars. Several NASCAR drivers, including seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, learned how to handle a loose race car by competing in off-road events.
But more than experience, she can see what's in front of her and appears ready to seize the opportunity. She plans to dispatch with schoolwork by finishing her high school graduation requirements in May and focus on racing.
"It was her choice to home-school," Brian Deegan said. "It was her choice to double up on her classwork. She wants to graduate a year early to focus on car racing.
"This year will be her last year in high school. She's straight A's. I've never had to help her, push her on her work. She's very good at that, which I think is going to translate into car racing very well -- reading data, understanding numbers, understanding car setup."
Hailie Deegan spends time on her Polaris on a circle track at their home. She goes to the go-kart track. She practices weekly in a late model at Irwindale Speedway in California.
"It's every day of my life," Deegan said. "It's not like I'm going to go hang out with my friends all week. Every single day is about racing -- by working out, eating healthy, training, practicing.
"I know myself. I put in 100 percent effort."
It seems like a lot to focus on for a teenager. But almost all young race car drivers make a choice in high school whether to focus on racing or try to have more of a traditional school experience.
It does not faze Deegan, even though she has run only occasionally on asphalt over the past two years.
"It is not stressful," Deegan said. "This is the fun stuff for me. This is what I love to do. If this was stressful, I wouldn't be here."
She hopes her experiences have taught her how to handle the stresses. In the East opener last month at New Smyrna, an electrical issue sidelined her after just 19 laps.
It appeared the disappointment rolled off her shoulders.
"I am an aggressive driver, but I have a really subtle personality," Deegan said. "I don't get mad ever. I'll get mad if some guy cleans me out, and then you've got a problem with me.
"Other than that, I understand things happen in racing. We run our off-road racing team and stuff happens. You can't help it. ... Stuff breaks."
Deegan knows she has a lot to learn. Some of the drivers she competes against have a decade of asphalt racing experience.
The patience and race craft will take time. That's why no one was disappointed with a seventh-place last week.
"I come from off-road racing, where you're driving 110 percent for the whole 30 minutes," Deegan said. "Now it's like hour-and-a-half races, keep it at 80 percent over the first 100 laps. It's a lot of work that you have to prepare for mentally to be there at the end.
"I didn't learn that in off-road racing."
The mental challenge of not standing in Victory Lane -- her Bill McAnally Racing teammates, Derek Kraus and Cole Rouse, finished first and third at Kern County -- likely will challenge Deegan.
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As she goes to tracks for the first time, it will be the team's tendency to keep the car tight, a conservative approach where it is a little tougher to make the car turn but keeps the back end of the car from kicking out, causing a spin.
From the time of her first test with the team, she has told them to loosen the car up to go faster. It's the way drivers and teams work together to creep to the point where the car is at its fastest being driven on the ragged edge of the driver's ability.
"I know I'm going to have to have a lot of seat time before I get good," Deegan said. "All of these guys have anywhere from four times as much seat time as I've had to 10 times -- they've been here for years and years.
"Just coming in, it's just honestly getting me comfortable to where I can run as fast as them. This year is my learning year. We'll see how I do and go from there. It would be amazing to win a race, but we'll take baby steps."
Deegan knows she has the best equipment in the series, so she will be judged among the best every week.
"We're so used to trying to win in all the other things we've done, so it's going to be hard," Brian Deegan said. "We know it's going to take time and take a lot of work and a lot of ups and downs.
"The goal is to be a top-10 contender and then by the end of the season to be able to really run the pace. Next season, it would be nice to go out and try to win races. I know people have never seen a girl do that, but I've watched Hailie win at all forms of racing. I think it can happen."
And if it does ...
"If you have a girl, whether it's my daughter or whoever it is, come out and run up front in [NASCAR developmental] Trucks and Xfinity [series], the top-five, top-10 pace is going to be a game-changer," Brian Deegan said. "You've got to think, in the end, it's still a female -- we're in a male sport.
"Hailie is strong. She is not fragile. She's built. She's muscular. She's in good shape. She trains hard. I think she has a chance."