Everyone is talking about it. We all saw the big moment of the San Diego 250SX main event on Saturday: Haiden Deegan made a block pass on his teammate Max Anstie that sent the #61 to the ground and several positions back in the field. Deegan took the win and the championship lead as Anstie starts the year with 1-5 finishes. (And for those keeping count at home, that is two straight years with Anstie getting a win in his 250SX season opener then getting the short end of the stick, after he won the Tampa SX last year then was delt a bad hand when a red flag late in the Detroit SX, only for Levi Kitchen to take the race win at the very end of the race. Anyway, back to 2026…)
“No, that was impressive,” Anstie said after the race. “Obviously I know who I'm racing. I know I've watched the stuff with Jo Shimoda [at the SMX Final]. I've watched obviously Haiden's career and, fair play, he's good at it, at those type of moves and putting himself in positions that are very, I guess, blocking, but obviously not allowing me to come back with... I wasn't planning on putting up much of a fight there. It was like, ‘Okay.’ Look, he's fast. He's ripping. I was just like, ‘Okay, the job is done, he's made the pass.’ But I wasn't expecting a little brake slide into it.”
“So, all right, fair enough,” he continued. “I can go back, work on it. I can take it on the chin. I'm a big boy. It's obviously it’s not ideal, but hey, it happens. It's racing. So, I'll go back and see what I can do with it. Obviously, you can't really practice that too much, it's hard, but my starts are great. I'm feeling good on the bike. Bike's working well. So, it's a long season. We'll be all right. I'll put it back in the right position next week.”
Will there be any retaliation from Anstie this weekend at the Anaheim 2 Supercross? Will he have to be more aggressive towards Deegan moving forward?
“I think I'm going to have to be, of course,” he answered. “It's a tricky one, isn't it? Because he feeds off of that, even the beef or the UFC style and to me, dude, I'm quite a bit older, I'm just focused on myself. I got a lot of racing to do. But of course, you know who you're racing with.
“So, yeah, for me, I'm going to have to be sharper,” he continued. “I thought I was aware, but I overlooked it. I didn't respect the Haiden Deegan, I don't know, whatever you want to call it, I didn't resoect that on the track. And I was like, "Okay, I'm aware. It won't happen again." That was one mistake on my part. Okay, I'm sure we're going to be in this situation again. I pretty much holeshot every race that I do, my starts run real. He's not as good on the starts as me, it doesn't seem, so he's going to be coming and he's obviously really fast. So, hey, I'm sure we'll be in this position again. I'll work on it and be sharper next time.”
Deegan, Anstie, and Michael Mosiman out front early in their heat race in San Diego.
As far as Anstie’s big picture look on his battle for the title vs Deegan, he knows starts will be a factor.
“Starts,” Anstie said. “Just getting out of the gate, getting in, doing what I was doing. I don't have to beat him every... I would have been happy with second tonight, obviously, but he made sure that didn't happen. He was faster than me tonight on this style track. He was riding really well.
“Just about executing,” he added on his approach going forward. “Executing as well as I can. And when the track suits, I'll be there like last week and hopefully A2 will be similar to that. All I got to do is focus on myself, get my starts, and not let those things happen again.”
Anstie acknowledged this title fight will put him to the test and gave props to his training partner.
“There's a reason why he's got the #1 plate. I mean, if he beats me straight up, no problem,” Anstie said. “Dude, the kids fast, he's incredible. I was in a good position, but I've got to be smarter in that situation when I'm under attack there with him. But hey, I'm learning. That's first one for me. So, I'll be all right.”
Max Anstie's First Two 2026 SX Results
| Position | Race | Class | Date | Bike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Supercross San Diego | 250SX West | January 17, 2026 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 1 | Supercross Anaheim 1 | 250SX West | January 10, 2026 | Yamaha YZ250F |
