BETWEEN THE MOTOSPHENOMINAL
Ironic that Haiden Deegan’s first overall loss of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship is also really his signature ride, the one that stamped him as not just one of the contenders for the title, but as a level ahead. Deegan won three rounds with 1-1, 1-2, and 2-1 scores respectively, but the opening rounds of any championship, and perhaps motocross more so, are sometimes not real indicators of what’s to come. Everyone is guessing on bike setup and their overall adjustment to motocross. Plus, Deegan had some battles along the way with the likes of Levi Kitchen, Tom Vialle and Chance Hymas. He was winning but it seemed… close.
Eh, maybe not. At High Point Deegan suffered a bad start in moto one and then went nuke through the field, engaging that kind of fight-or-flight pattern that powered Chase Sexton’s comeback charge at Hangtown. Deegan, especially, thrives in that environment, because his normal style is all send it WFO anyway, and he can really lean on that strength while in comeback mode. For Sexton, sometimes jumping into warp speed leads to crashes, and while at Hangtown he had a few great saves and put in a charge for the ages, it’s not clear if that’s actually repeatable or sustainable for him. Deegan? He lives on that edge, anyway, so his super charge at High Point actually looked both sendy and simple. To the point where he had to do it again in the second moto after an early spill, and he might have been even better in that one!
“I could see where people were losing time and I had to ride my heart out,” said Deegan. “That was probably the fastest I’ve ridden a dirt bike in a long time, if not the fastest I’ve ever ridden. I mean, definitely a lot of the riders sometimes you get to a guy, and you know how they’re going to ride you, or know the guys that fade a little bit, or this guy would be a little more aggressive. So, you kind of pick and choose how to pass most of the guys.”
In moto one, Deegan came from 14th at the end of lap one to win, passing all of his key rivals like Vialle, Kitchen, and Hymas along the way. He was probably 15 seconds down at one point. Here’s some data on how fast Deegan was going in the first moto:
Deegan’s best lap was a 2:14.093 on the last lap. The only other rider who had a single lap in the 2:14s was Jo Shimoda with a 2:14.9, but Shimoda only did it once on lap five. Deegan ran back-to-back 2:14s to end the race.
Deegan’s average lap time was 2:16.731. Ty Masterpool (second place) had an average of 2:17.557, third-place Shimoda’s average was 2:18.041 and Vialle, who was battling Deegan at the last two races, had an average of 2:23.083.
In moto two, Deegan absolutely scorched that lap charts with a 2:10 on the next-to-last lap, making up six seconds on race-leader Masterpool, and then he backed it up with another 2:10 on the final lap, which means in both motos Deegan’s final two lap times were better than any other rider’s lap time on any other lap in the race. Hymas, Vialle, and Masterpool did get into the 2:11s at one point. That was as close as anyone got. In the final two laps, Deegan made up 10 seconds on the leaders.
These types of furious charges are what turns mere race winners or championship contenders into legends, and if Deegan starts uncorking this kind of stuff consistently, he might eventually become the type where people talk about his rides for years to come. Remember how Blake Baggett used to break convention by waiting until the halfway mark and then “dropping the hammer” with his El Chupacabra charges? When Eli Tomac goes Beast Mode? Well, High Point, can we call it the Danger Zone?
Might as well, because with Deegan you’re going to get not only actions but words, but he’s making them match each other. In the post-race press conference, he was asked if he’s getting any flak from his sponsors or even his family over being so brash on the podium. (The latest was when he said Chance Hymas thought he had a chance, but Deegan showed Hymas that he doesn’t have a chance.)
“I like the controversy, I mean, that’s sweet,” said Deegan. “If I can after every race get the people talking, why not? Especially when you’re winning, you can back it up. It would be a different story if I couldn’t back up my talk. But since I can go out there and back it up most of the time, I feel like I kind of have the right to say what I want on the mic sometimes. Obviously, my dad, he’s Metal Mulisha so he doesn’t really care!”
This is what you’re going to get with Deegan, and if you love it or hate it, it doesn’t bother him.
Even Hymas couldn’t counter it. When he was asked if Deegan’s words bothered him…
“I didn’t hear anything, but he rode really good and I was struggling a little bit,” Hymas said. “Just gotta figure out the first motos a little bit, but overall, we’ll figure it out.”
They’re all trying to figure it out. Deegan was cutting out of ruts, creating his own lines, and being aggressive and sendy on a technical track that should punish such impatience. Deegan, though, has shown throughout most of his short pro career that he can ride the edge like that with very few repercussions. It’s the kind of next level stuff that takes a rider from mere points leader to next big thing. Right now, Deegan is living up to that kind of hype, and then some.
