“The mentality was, I’m either going to podium or go down this race, so I just sent it.” That’s what Haiden Deegan said after the High Point National. In the second moto he was forced to climb from about last to sixth to salvage an overall podium. By now you know how Deegan did it—he indeed sent it and salvaged a podium.
Also, by now you know RJ Hampshire did the same. He led early in moto one, fell, then dug deep through a couple of saves to get back to Deegan and steal the victory right at the end. In moto two, he also went down early, and he and Deegan came through the pack together. Deegan was slightly quicker at the end and took sixth ahead of Hampshire's seventh, by RJ edged him for second overall thanks to that first-moto win, with a 1-7 compared to the 2-6.
What really defines both of these riders is their go-for-it mentality in all conditions. Good start or bad, they're going for it. They battled at the front of one moto, and at the back of another. While Deegan was bummed to lose that first moto, he still has the rookie perspective that running up front is learning.
“First moto went solid,” said Deegan to our Mitch Kendra. “It was a tough race with these lappers. It was a hard track, so the lappers were tipping over a lot, and we had to move around a lot. But it was a good race, I was hyped to get second in the first moto. That’s always a good goal for me to be up there running up front with those guys. Then second moto, first turn crash. Me and Smitty [Jordon Smith] got together, Smitty got out of it, I didn’t. Yeah, then I got ran over, got the whole nine yards on the start. But I got up, and charged my way from last and was just laying down some smooth, solid laps. I was on the edge, definitely, I will tell you that. And made my way up to fifth or sixth, one of those. And yeah, hyped to get on the podium.”
As for Hampshire, he summed it up like this:
“Yeah, it sucks, that one was on me,” said Hampshire. “I came into that corner too fast and shouldn’t have done that. It’s a bummer. Overall, for the day, stoked to get out of the gate good both motos, which I was struggling with the last few weekends. My bike is awesome. I feel like I let one slip away a bit today with a bad last-second decision. Just gotta be better with that.”
The two “senders” of the pack are similar on the track but much different off of it, as Hampshire is married and a father to two children, while Deegan is 17 and just breaking into the pro ranks.
“That side of my life has been so awesome, it’s cool to be a dad, especially with two little girls,” said Hampshire of his off-weekend plans. “Just enjoy the weekend off, we have off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Just enjoy that and come back at RedBud.”
“Yeah, I mean shoot, bikes in a solid place right now, it definitely showed in that second moto that I was able to hammer out,” said Deegan. “But yeah, these next couple of days, we’re gonna go back to North Carolina, I’m gonna go chill on the lake and recover. I’m still a kid so I gotta go have fun and keep my energy up. So yeah, I’m gonna go hangout on the lake, go wake surf and have some fun for Father’s Day.”
This week will look different for these two, but when they meet again on the track at RedBud, expect it to be much the same. Two guys going for it, no matter how it ends up.
