Is Deacon Denno Next? The Story Behind the AMA Amateur Rider of the Year

The early moto. That how many early motos have you had? Was that strange to have such an early one at the Ranch here?
Yeah, actually, my Supermini year, I was first moto. So, yeah, I got second in my Supermini year. First moto, and really first motos here at Loretta's you just got to send it. You got to let it hang. [Laughs] And, yeah, just, you know, send it as hard as you can, pretty much. There's not much out there to do. It's really deep. Well, actually, it wasn't flat. It was really deep. There was like one or two ruts around the track, so, yeah, I had to make quick work or else the front pack was going to get away. And that's exactly what I did. And, yeah, sent it.

I can't remember now who has it, but I know at one point you had one of the fastest laps of the week.
I still do, running I think 48.0 in that early morning moto. So, that helped me out for sure. But, yeah, I do have it right now. I believe I kept it all week, so. Yeah, I should get that award. That'll be sweet.

Yeah. So, two titles, the fastest lap of the week. Pace is really good. Fitness looked really good. Missing last year, like this was a huge week for you. Walk us through how you missed last year, the injuries you had and everything.
So, 2023, when I first got on the big bike after Supermini, I had had a crash that kind of caught me off guard. I just landed off a jump and tucked the front end on the landing and slapped my hand on the ground and ended up breaking my wrist right at my growth plate. And they said it didn't need surgery, so they just put me in a cast. So, that healed up. But we went in for my three-week appointment and we saw that it was 20 degrees off. So, there's not much you can do at that point. They say you say you just got to let it heal. So, we did that. And then yeah, I got back on the bike in December, I think. So, yeah. I just started working towards the 2024 year and I did that. And then I was looking forward to all the Spring Nationals. So, started on January 24. My wrist, when I got back on the bike, I thought it was fine. I started riding a corner track and yeah, I felt fine on the corner track. And then I started start riding longer motos 20s, 30s, and I was like, "Oh crap. Five laps in my hands going numb." And it turns out with the bone being 20 degrees off, it was pinching my nerves. So, I was like, well, we either get it fixed now before Spring Nationals, or we get it fixed after spring nationals and skip Loretta. So, there wasn't really a chance of me racing Loretta's last year anyways. And I went into Spring Nationals with that with that problem with my wrist and I knew it was going to be tough. And yeah, I actually didn't ride bad. That was my first national on a big bike. The Spring Nationals: JS7 and Spring-a-Ding. And yeah, JS7 was all right, I think. Cracked a couple top tens, almost won a championship.

So, yeah, it wasn't bad there, but yeah, just the numbness in my wrist really, really wasn't in my favor and going into Spring-a-Ding, and I was pretty hyped up, you know coming off a Freestone, I felt like I could win. And I was doing that and had a had a crash at Spring-a-Ding and ended up breaking my tib/fib in one of the first motos there. So yeah, I had those two injuries and then I kind of, my leg was a struggle. I got a roar down at my tip/fib and that one, that one took it out of me. It was a pretty big injury. It took a lot to come back from. It was really sore, took a lot. A bunch of pain in that one, it was a pretty bad break. And see how that one took a minute, and I let my leg heal up until I could start walking and then I went straight into surgery, flew to Florida and straight into surgery [with] Doctor Berg down in Florida to get my wrist fixed. And they did reconstructive surgery on my wrist and nerve surgery right here and right here. [Points to elbow and hand] And so yeah, I was off the bike for about five months total with those two injuries. So, yeah, I missed a lot last year. And then yeah, I got back on the bike around Loretta's time actually, or so and started working on a corner track and then, yeah, started preparing for Mini O's last year, and that was about it.

So much time off the bike. Like you said, physically, I'm sure you lost a ton. Mentally it was tough. How do you work through that? And you get back to where you were before that, let alone get even better than you were before?
Yeah, it's definitely not easy. I mean, I put in so much work just off the bike, even when I had my injuries. Cycling every day that I could, when I got back from my leg. Work in everything I could do. Even if I couldn't walk like it's everyone's done it. All the pros, all of them. They put in the work they can off the bike when they can't ride. And that's what you have to do to get back to where you want to be. So, yeah, I was putting in as much work as I could off the bike and then, yeah, as soon as I got back on the bike, we were just straight back to work. And then I was working with Gavin Gracyk at the time, and I just made the switch over to Stilez [Robertson]. Stilez and Brownie [Mike Brown] have been helping me out, and it's the last two months, I think. And as soon as I got there, just, yeah, just seeing Jordon [Smith], Jalek [Swoll], Mikkel [Haarup], Austin [Forkner], just watching them riding and seeing how fast they are and how hard they work. Just trying to lock onto their pace really helped me out, it brought up my speed a lot. So, just working with those guys helped me out a lot. I think that's where what helped me out this week. I think just that speed just latching onto those guys every day and training and learning a lot from them. I think it helped me out a lot this week.

It was cool to see Stilez up there on the podium with you and obviously Mike Brown's banged up now with this injury. But you've been putting a lot of work into the test track. We hear you're flying the test track. How have you been able to translate that into the racing? Like Redbud, the first moto got second. I think second moto you went down. But I feel like we haven't seen you a ton but when we've seen you, it's been really good. Do you feel that way?
Yeah. It's definitely a struggle for everyone to translate practice day to race day. You know, you just have to really be confident in yourself and really believe in yourself. And just ride. Just don't put too much pressure on yourself that you want to do good like that. But I did put a lot of pressure on myself this week. I wanted to win every single moto, and I wanted to win both my championships, and I did that. I don't know, I'm pretty decent translating it from practice day to race day, I guess. Everyone's different. Me, I guess I translate that pretty good, I don't really know how. I just get out there and ride and it works. I guess I'm pretty good at that part.

You mentioned Owen and Carson Wood won the moto here. You had some pretty good competition. What was it like battling with those guys, kind of learning their lines, seeing where they're getting better at and going back and forth? It was fun to watch it. How was it to live it and race those guys?
Well, yeah, it's definitely cool, you know. Riding competition's great. Carson definitely whooped my butt that last moto. [Laughs] Was pretty embarrassing, honestly. But, yeah. Owen... I think I had that first moto in the bag until I got together with that lapper. But, yeah, Owen's a great rider. He rode great all week, obviously bringing home that other title and the 450 class and keeping me honest all week in the 250 B class. And Carson, he finally put it together. You know, he is one of the top dogs coming in here. He was one of the big names. Me, him, and Owen, Vincent [Wey] were the guys. And, yeah, Carson finally put together that last moto. He whooped my butt. I didn't ride that good that last moto. And that was my only bad moto during this whole week. So, to bring home a second and a championship in the last moto, I think that's not bad.

And then I'm sure you were locked in and focused on racing but did you have any highlights off the track? Did you jump in the creek, get some ice cream? What was a big, fun thing this week for you off the track?
I don't know, I guess hanging out with some chicks and stuff at night. [Laughs] But no, I never hit the cone this week. Maybe I'll go hit it real quick if it's still open. But I went in the creek about one time, but I was pretty scared to go in there because I had some high expectations this week. I didn't want to get sick or do anything like that. Getting an ear infection or anything to cause me from not winning or something like that. So yeah, I kept it pretty safe and stayed out of the creek. I went in there one time when I first got here, and that was it. Yeah, just pretty locked in all week, I'd say. In bed by 8:30, you know, asleep around 9:30. So, yeah, we were pretty locked in, I'd say. [Laughs]

I'm sure you were following the pro sport, guys. Are you watching them? Temmerman was really good, Kade Johnson was up there. Landen Gordon. Are you watching those guys and thinking, "These are the lines they take." "Here's what they do." What's it like kind of seeing them thinking like, "Hey, maybe next year that'll be me." What's it like just soaking that information all in?
Honestly, I watched broadcast a little bit. Yeah. Definitely watch Enzo, he was dominant this week. But honestly, I think I think I could have been right there in the mix if I was in the pro class with him looking at the lap times. They were two motos after me yesterday and the track doesn't change that much in two motos. So, yeah, the lap times weren't far off. If not, it was a little bit faster, I think, in some of the laps. I watched them a little bit. Obviously, everyone watched the pro class to see and watch and just enjoy watching a class of bikes race. So, yeah, I watched them a little bit. And yeah, I wouldn't really say I learned from them because it's different every time you get on the track. They're out there on the track at a different time. Lines change. They weren't really right before me. They were mostly after me. So, yeah, I watched Enzo. I learned a lot from Enzo, actually. He he's really good at hopping around the track and using the bumps to his favor.

What's next for you, Ironman Combine next weekend. Do you know what's after that?
I'm not sure what's happening after Ironman combine. We'll see. I think I opened a lot of people's eyes this week, so we'll see what comes with that. Ironman combines up next, and my plan is to go there and win. So yeah, just looking forward to Ironman, and then whatever happens after that happens, you know, we'll see.

Anything else you'd like to add about the week we didn't cover?
I think we covered it all. That was quite a bit, I think.

Watch this full interview below: