Yesterda Monster Energy/Yamaha Star Racing teammates Haiden Deegan and Cole Davies spoke to our Tom Journet at press day for St. Louis, and team manager Wil Hahn took questions at the media scrum. Deegan is leading 250 West points, and Davies leads the 250 East, and the team in general has won all but one 250 race this year (Max Anstie took his Yamaha to the Anaheim 1 win, also). Here's what they had to say ahead of another 250 East/West Showdown
Racer X: Haiden, second showdown of the year and you had the weekend off. But it's obvious it's rolling. So dude, just how do we just kind of stay in it, day by day?
Haiden Deegan: Yeah, yeah. Just chasing my goals. I feel like that's something no one can really stop is how much work I put in and, the goals I'm chasing. So every weekend I come into these races ready to win. Right? So that's the plan this weekend. Go out there and try and stomp them again like we did last showdown.
Obviously you're at your prime in the 250s. Do you feel like you can get any faster? Does it feel like you've kind of hit that ceiling at least for a 250?
Yeah, to be honest, I do feel like I hit the ceiling! [Laughs] I mean, any fan watching, too, could see that. Like I'm winning from 10th now.
Like it's just crazy!
I know! I feel like I've kind of knocked all the chapters off. I feel like I'm ready for a 450. I need to get to that 450 so that's where I'm at now. But you’ve got to go through the steps, so I’ve got to finish out the supercross season and it'll be time. It's coming quick.
Cole Davies
How are you feeling? Are progressing still throughout the week or are you where you want to be?
Yeah, I know what I need to be doing during the week, and it’s been good. We’ve had good weekends and I’m just looking to keep that going.
St. Louis, people like coming here because of the soil.
Yeah, track looks good, but it looks a little softer than usual. I like that because it makes it more technical with the ruts. Should be more like Indy, I think.
Will Hahn -- Team Manager
Cole Davies. Last week it was perfect from what we saw. Do you feel that he is riding at 100% of his abilities now? I know you guys are always looking to raise the ceiling, but is Cole riding at 100% now?
I think last week, I would say everyone got to see his true potential. I think that was the first time we've kind of seen him put everything together, even though the start was pretty poor. But to see him rip through the pack the way he did and then gap out the field like that was definitely a special ride.
Cole's comments and press conferences have showed just how much pressure he puts on himself. Clearly, he expects a lot from himself. Are you trying to manage or temper those expectations?
Yeah, and in some ways no. I mean, part of the reason he's been successful so quickly is probably a lot that his family instilled into him. And then also kind of, I think, we kind of got him ready for that kind of pressure. And man, I think I understood real pressure when I raced and came up through the ranks and everything like that. But to move from a completely different country to come here with the expectation there's only one option is to win. Yeah, it'd be a lot.
I was just talking with Haiden and asking him if he thinks he feels he can go any faster. And he feels like he's kind of reached that ceiling. Do you think Hayden is the best 250 rider we have seen yet?
As far as the package right now, I don't think there's any doubts. Right? I think Cole's giving him a good run right now, but we need to see it again Saturday night. But yeah, I mean it's tough to argue that.
Nate Thrasher. What did he do differently last weekend that allowed him to show the speed that we know he has? And do you feel that it's repeatable for St. Louis?
Yeah, absolutely. Nate alluded to finding some stuff in his shoulder last weekend and just getting a little bit of treatment, like just some rehab and got some I got some good news and actually made some progress on it for the first time this year. And I think you'll continue to see more of the same.
Max Anstie, leading into the season, a lot of expectations. Obviously he's still mathematically in it, but just how is the morale with him overall and just ending out the season.
Just ending after Seattle before they went on break for West Coast, we found all that stuff with his appendix and why we had this cough for so long and everything like that. I think that like the last couple of weeks, it's the best he's ridden since probably pre-WSX in the off season and getting some of those races in. And to me this week was like another milestone to where I think we'll see some good fight out of Max tomorrow.
Haiden's on the verge of being able to clinch early, if not this weekend. Cole's trying to build a lead. Any words of the team to control emotions if you don't train like anything?
Obviously they're both in separate titles that are they can affect each others, but they also can't, if that makes sense. So at the end of the day, yeah, I mean, we go out there to go, I mean, I've said it a lot this year, I just want to see us go 1-2-3, and I don’t care about the order.
