Haiden Deegan is no stranger to the drama—his family has been selling the excitement on YouTube for years, but things got a little too crazy last weekend in Birmingham. From the first turn of the night, when he got tangled with Seth Hammaker, to the last, when he bumped his way past Coty Schock, to AMA fines and penalties, a bunch of lost ground in the points, and of course tons of internet commentary (it will happen anytime Deegan does anything) it was a night too hot for YouTube TV.
We talked to the AMA about the fines and penalties for Haiden dating back to the last week. The $1,000 conduct fine was specifically for throwing Hammaker’s bike down during the first-turn crash. And Haiden was the only rider penalized for going off the track because he came back onto the track ahead of bikes he was behind before he went off. No one else that went off the track was deemed to have passed any riders while off track.
Anyway, Haiden needed a quieter weekend for both his own reputation and also to get a little more consistency, which could get back into the championship chase. He mostly accomplished this, with 2-1 finishes in the first two Triple Crown races giving him a shot at the overall win. A first-turn crash ruined his chances, but this was his own fault, he took ownership, and he charged back up to at least salvage a podium.
Most telling, the crash was partially caused by Haiden lining up inside, because he wanted to avoid the drama of cutting across from the outside like last week.
“I was starting inside all night on that start, because I wasn’t risking coming across and having another incident,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna start inside and hug this inside.’ It was my fault, I came in too hot, locked the front brake up. I would have made the turn fine, but when I locked the front brake up it lifted the rear up and it set it to the left and it landed on the edge of the haybale and spun me into a 180. It was a mistake on my part, it caught me off guard, definitely. I thought I was going to get a good start and sneak in there, but then I was like ‘Damn I’m backwards right now.’ Just had to charge forward.”
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As for staying out of the drama? He had a chance to reflect.
“I saw a quote, ‘You’re focusing too much on the future and what you want in the future,’” Deegan says. “I had to settle back and realize I’m living my dream right now. As a kid, I dreamed of racing supercross and getting on podiums. I literally had a Cameron McAdoo jersey on my wall! From back when he was on Honda. [Laughs] Just something a lot of people wouldn’t know! So, it’s a dream of mine to be in this position in the first place. I was looking too far into the future, and it was catching up to me. That’s why you see some of the emotions come out. Also injuries, you know? A lot of heart goes into this sport and when stuff bites you, the emotions get the best of you. I’m young, I’m learning, and I’ve just got to build.”
After a laugh, McAdoo, now Haiden’s title rival, added: “I would dare to say that Haiden doesn’t have the Cameron McAdoo jersey on his wall anymore.”
“Nah it’s not there anymore!” said Deegan while laughing. “It was!”
The Deegan camp was oddly vague about an alleged wrist injury to start the season (rumors say it was a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist, Haiden would only say it was sprained) it would appear his sophomore supercross season was starting without a full off-season prep schedule. Then his big practice crash in Daytona resulted in a bruised tailbone, which prevented him from riding the week of Birmingham. This has led to more frustration.
“Yeah, I’ve been behind in general just because of injuries,” Deegan said. “This week I had a good week with the team, just slowly getting back to speed. Put in the motos and it’s slowly coming back. Finding that speed, getting back to where I was before I got hurt.”
Deegan is known for sending it, but he did try to take a different approach at least for the Triple Crown.
“I feel like you come into Triple Crowns with the goal to be consistent,” he said. “If you’re up there with those guys and you’re having a top three start, it’s not a rush. This track, you could throw it away in the first two [races], so it was more just trying to be consistent. Unfortunately did kind of throw it away in the third one. That’s why you saw that not-to-flashy [strategy in the first two races]. I don’t know, maybe it’s different for other guys, but for me it was just try to be consistent for the first two.”
Don’t think you’re going to get a watered-down Deegan from here on out. McAdoo made grand overtures about life perspective, saying it’s, “helpful to be more settled in my mind and okay with whatever my best can be that night and each weekend and at the end of the championship.” Deegan still has the approach of a teenager. He’s just trying to link it up with a little bit better decision making.
“I mean every man has their own goals and that kind of changes the way you race a little bit,” he says. “I get where Cameron is coming from, but I say I’m a little different. I want to charge forward and keep charging. If it’s there, you take it, and if it’s not there, you keep trying. You also have to have maturity, too, you have to be consistent, you have to know that if I push this area too much it’s going to bite me.”
When it came down it to it, in the final race, Deegan had to abandon the consistency and let it all hang out again to make sure he still made it to the podium.
“Yeah definitely, I did see it on my pit board, it said 'Pass the guys in front of you,” he said. “Trust me I was charging, crashed on the start, couldn’t start the bike. When you’re pushing that hard trying to catch guys like that you make mistakes that cost you some time. It was hard, you’re pushing as hard as you can to make up time, but you also make mistakes here and there, you’re just kind of fighting it. I was just grateful to get into a podium position after cleaning myself on the start.”
Grateful. Maybe that’s a small sign this is a slightly different Haiden Deegan right now.
