This weekend, the 2025 FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) will kick off in Argentina. The opening round of the five-round series will take over the Óscar and Juan Gálvez Racetrack for the Buenos Aires City GP, and we will see a lot of star power, especially when it comes to the Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) field.
One of the biggest names will be Haiden Deegan, who is a wild card (no team affiliation) for both the first round in Argentina and the third round in Australia (November 29). In early August, Deegan re-signed a new deal with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, set to race 250SX in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and then jump to the premier class in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, SMX Playoffs, and beyond. It seems like that is still the plan, although that could very well change between now and the January 10 kickoff to 2026 SX.
So, initially, Deegan was expected to race the SX2 (250cc) class of WSX, but then a month after that announcement came his move to the SX1 (450cc) class for his two wild card showings.
In the 2025 WSX preview show, hosted by Daniel Blair and Kristen Beat from the broadcast team, Deegan did an interview with Blair, talking about moving to the big bike. Blair asked Deegan why WSX to make the move.
“Yeah, I feel like this was a good chance to get experience,” Deegan said. “I mean, if I'm going to race 450 next year at outdoors, and I feel like it's just time to get on the bike and get experience with that stuff. And definitely, I mean, in the future, the 450 supercross, if I could get a little head start, doing these races that don't lead to an AMA championship, I feel like it's something positive. And it was a good idea on my part.”
Deegan commented on the switch to the 450cc bike and his initial thoughts.
“Yeah, it was a wild moment, definitely,” he said. “It's definitely a dream come true riding a 450 on a supercross track. I feel like that's everyone's goal is to get to the 450 class eventually. So just in general, getting out there on the 450, the power and I mean the lines you can hit on that thing is definitely wild.”
As far as the competition, Deegan will have some elite names on him with the gate. Eli Tomac (now on KTM), Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Justin Cooper, Joey Savatgy, Christian Craig, Justin Hill, and more will all be at this weekend’s opener. The 450F and the unfamiliar and stronger competition the premier class brings, will be a new challenge for the second-generation rider—and something he is looking forward to.
Related: WSX SX1 and SX2 Rosters, Wild Cards Announced for 2025 Season
“Yeah, I feel like in my career and as a person, I've always done well with having something to go after having pressure on my back. I feel like that's where I really work the best. And yeah, this 450 opportunity is now a goal to chase and, yeah, 250 class, I feel like I got to a point where I was pretty dominant, where a lot of the races, they were coming, I wouldn't say easy because it is a lot of hard work, but they were and we went and won a lot of championships. But that was a lot of hard work to get to that point where those where it became boring, as you said. And but now this 450 class is a whole new motivation to go start a new chapter and do good things.”
And with that soon-to-come move to a 450 full-time in the SMX championship, everyone—including Deegan himself—is looking forward to the clashing of him with Jett Lawrence.
“Yeah, I know, it's going to be definitely a difficult chapter, you know, to hop into and I'm going to have to work hard towards it, but you're going to be racing a whole bunch of 250 champions now that are now 450 vets. So, there's a lot of good guys. I know a lot of people try to pit the Jett versus Haiden thing. And it's like people need to understand there's like ten good guys! It's not it's not me versus one person, it's like, I gotta go out there and race some gnarly dudes on a dirt bike. And right now I have a ton of respect for those guys. And I want to go out there and obviously see where I fit in. And so far, well, we got a few guys in Argentina that are racing that and then some guys racing Australia round so I can kind of get a good gauge and I'm excited.”
This race will not only be Deegan’s first 450cc race, but it will be also be his debut race with his new head-to-toe Fox Racing deal.
Check out his vlog from his first day riding in his next Fox gear.
If you pay for a subscription to the WSX broadcast, you can watch the full, 27-minute preview show with Blair and Beat as they cover the names to watch, the storylines entering the season, the different cities the series will visit, and more.
