Open Mic: Deegan’s First

At the fifth round, back at RedBud MX where he raced as the combine amateur event last year, Deegan claimed 2-3 moto finishes en route to the overall win, his maiden professional win, and his fourth overall podium of the season.

Championship leader Hunter Lawrence had a crash in the first turn of moto two and his day was done early, earning only 25 points. That allowed Deegan to close up his gap to Hunter to only 11 points now. Suddenly, Deegan has gone from soon-to-be star of the sport to fully arriving. Oh, and he did so at the race on the Fourth of July weekend, becoming the first American to win an overall so far this year in either class, which of course the patriots at the Michigan facility loved. Each weekend he is accomplishing more and changing the goalposts on his season expectations. Check out what Deegan had to say in the post-race press conference.

Haiden, winning your first race. We have a fan question. What was going through your mind on the last lap of that race knowing that you had the overall if you stayed up on two wheels?
Haiden Deegan: Yeah, definitely sweet to get my first overall at RedBud. Man, it needed to happen. We needed to put an American back on top and we were able to do that at RedBud in front of the fans. Actually, three Americans. Levi and Justin. Podium sweep with the Star guys, so that’s sick. Last lap I was just thinking that I have to hit the [LaRocco’s] Leap and do a fist pump for the crowd, so I did it.

How soon did you know that the series point leader [Hunter Lawrence] was heading to the mobile medical unit? Did you know Hunter went down in the first corner and that he was completely out of the moto?
No. I feel like that would be like a team thing, they wouldn’t want to tell you that during the race because it might go through your head or something. But I did the whole race, and I knew from the tabletop I could see who was behind me and there wasn’t a Husky or a Honda, and those were the guys that were on the podium the first moto. So I was like, dang, this is my overall to win. I just got to fight through it. So, we did that and then they told me after. It’s a brutal sport. You’ve got to be consistent, and you’ve got to have that dog in you.

It’s a little bit of a reset. You’re down to eleven points behind. So, it’s got to be refreshing that you feel like now you have a little bit better chance of possibly bringing home a championship if Hunter is not 100 percent at the next race in Southwick? Have you ever raced at Southwick in your career at all, in minis or anything? Have you ever raced Southwick?
Yeah, I have raced Southwick. We did last year for the tour that I did to race all the national tracks and get used to them. There was a few I wasn’t able to do, but Southwick was one that I loved. That was a good track. You hang it out there. It’s a sick track.

You started counting down to the overall win as soon as you got that first moto win. You knew you were going to get it, but in your wildest dreams did you think it would come this fast?
No, definitely as a rookie in my first full outdoor season it’s been a little challenging just trying to adapt quick because these guys have a lot of experience and I’m just trying to learn quickly and adapt to these riders. Running up front helps with that a lot, seeing their line choice and seeing how they change throughout the moto. But it was good.

Do you train any differently off of the motorcycle for outdoors versus indoors?
No. You obviously don’t want to give too much of the training away over the internet, but it’s basically the same. You don’t really change it up much. Obviously, you’re on an outdoor track though and doing outdoor motos is a little more work on the body. So, there’s obviously little things you have to change up, but it’s fairly the same.

Talk about the moto combine events. Last year you did that race here and then you’ve come a long way since then with supercross, full-time pro. Just talk about that experience last year and how that benefitted you now today racing here pro.
The moto combine was a big step for last year. I was able to see some of these tracks as well doing that. You’re doing those 30-minute motos. You’re getting used to what a pro outdoor national would be. You’re racing some fast guys, factory guys, amateurs. It’s definitely good. It’s a good steppingstone to go up to pros.

Obviously, the fan base here, everybody is cheering, everybody is partying. To be an American and get up there to win, how extra special is that win? This win is huge for your career, but just talk about it being here on Fourth of July weekend.
Yeah, definitely getting an American up front for RedBud. These Star boys had to shut down the train eventually and we were able to this weekend, so that was sick. Get the American flag up there. I was waving that thing for the RedBud fans. They love it.