Deegan defends 250 West title with St. Louis win
Ricky Carmichael and Leigh Diffey unpack the 250 races from Supercross Round 12 at St. Louis, headlined by Haiden Deegan making a move on Cole Davis to win the race and the 250 West Championship.
Video Transcript
Second 250 East/West Showdown of the year.
Yes, we always look forward to the East/West Showdowns, bringing the best 250 riders in the country and the world all together under the one roof.
It was a tough night for SMX world champion Joe Shimoda.
Yeah, it is right here.
There you go.
First lap of the heat race, he puts his left foot down, gets involved in a collision, just a racing incident.
He's gonna injure his left, looked like his ankle.
He would eventually come out of the Alpine Star medical unit.
There you go.
And I just hate it for Joe, too.
You think about that injury he had in the off-season, but how about this?
The newly crowned 250 West Division champ.
Yeah.
This guy put on a display.
He lifted- He knew, he knew that there was some history on the line.
He wanted to grab that.
He wanted to take the fight to his teammate at Monster Energy Star Yamaha, Cole Davies, after, co- controversial circumstances in Birmingham, where the win was taken away from Hayden Deegan.
So he wanted to get that one back that he rightfully felt was his, but he didn't get the hole shot.
He was kind of boxed in there within the top half dozen or so.
Yeah, there he was, P5 right there.
He tiptoes through this section, is able to pick off a few positions while doing that, one or two positions, but man, what a race this was, and a dominant performance while grabbing and defending your championship.
no surprise, especially when you think of Birmingham.
I honestly thought, and I'm gonna say it, I, I, I expected a little bit more from Cole Davies just knowing the competitor that he is, but nevertheless, still a, a quality ride.
But look at that.
Nick Romano kind of came to an abrupt halt, and the door opened up for Hayden Deegan to go past not only Romano, but his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate Seth Hammaker.
And he goes to work.
Hayden getting a good run through the whoops just as well.
Cole didn't have a massive advantage there, but this man right here, Danger Boy Deegan, was just faster everywhere else, else.
Look at that aggression, and just absolutely sending it.
Looked really comfortable.
He blows by Cole Davies up the inside.
This is where I thought Cole was gonna try to contest, but he didn't have the pace.
He's trying to stick with it for a little bit.
Max Anstie goes down.
Remember, if Hayden won, Max at least had to get fifth to live to fight another day, and that wouldn't happen.
Yep.
Rough night for Max.
That made the points scenario a whole lot easier for this man, who would go on and successfully defend his 250 West Division title.
Back-to-back champion, Hayden Deegan, and the fans loved it.
Just the third rider in history to clinch the 250 West title with two rounds still left.
Let's go, and yes, he did.
He really went.
Deegan, Davies, Hammaker on the podium, but there's the champ.
What a ride that was with authority in excess of 10 seconds.
In fact, I think it was 15 seconds.
Well, yeah, hey, it was, it was a statement for sure.
He left no doubt once again, but hey, a, a good ride for Cole also.
And, and listen, Seth, he's double digits now on the points, but at the end of the day, still he's hanging in there, and we have a lot of races that we're going to.
The rest are open air stadiums on the East Coast.
Mother Nature, will it play a part?
Hopefully not.
Hopefully that isn't the, hopefully that isn't the circumstance, but man, this is, gonna be exciting.
All right, let's get you up to date with the points scenario after this East/West Showdown, and we start with the East.
Ricky alluded to this, Cole Davies, he may have finished second, but he extended his lead over Hammaker.
Yeah, he did, just by a couple points there.
notable right there, Daxton Bennick with Joe Shimoda going out, Bennick's back in, and that was a great comeback from, Bennick on the night.
He was in the last chance qualifier, but, gonna be interesting to see what Seth brings because he said he, he needs to hang it out a little bit more- Yeah and I agree with him.
Obviously, he can't go over the limit, but we need more aggression if he wants to fight.
To the West Division points standings, well, we know what's at the top.
Hayden Deegan, crowned champion by a whopping 57 points over Levi Kitchen, and then Max Anstie.
Great, great, opportunity for Anstie, DeFrancisco, and Levi Kitchen for that P2 position in the championship.
Yeah.
Probably a lot of bonus money at stake right there, so keep an eye on that position right there for second overall.
It's nice and tight, and remember, there's still two rounds to go- Right in that 250 West Division title.
All right, let's catch up with the Deegans, with JT.
Hayden Deegan, big night.
You lock it up with two rounds to go.
You tie for third all time in 250 wins.
I know this, it's big to win these showdowns, so talk about, like, legacy.
What does winning something like this mean?
Yeah, it's huge, especially winning it three rounds early.
They were talking, I think that's the last time since, like, the '90s someone's done that, so record book stuff, we're doing over here, keeping that Deegan name alive.
it's going good.
Well, Brian, I know you've got to watch this whole story from him being a little kid backflipping in your yard to stuff like this.
Walk us through that because it wasn't that long ago.
He is winning Futures, but you take this step, nobody knows what to expect, and then he just rips off championship after championship to this day.
What's that been like from your perspective?
If you really think back, like not long ago, you know, five, maybe even 10 years ago, we're, we're at the local track at Pala, you know, on a KTM 65 or 85 just dreaming, like literally saying, "If I could just win one championship."
And that was I remember that video of him saying that, and I'm just saying, well, I just remember driving to the track, you know, doing what the families do in this sport, and thinking one day, if we could just make it to win some, win a championship.
And, and I think that mindset, that, that has just paid off, you know?
A- and the whole team, the, the, the whole group has worked so hard at it, and we've worked so hard at having a good circle around us, and, you know, it's, it's cool.
And I think he's rewriting some history, not just with the records, but with new records, such as the biggest audience ever, bringing it into a sport.
But, you know, first eight pro he already had millions of, you know, fans, which bring a lot of new fans to this sport, which is cool, 'cause we love the sport and wanna grow it and want it to be big, and that's, and I feel like that is one of the things we really try to do.
Congratulations to both of you.
I know this is a big moment for you and a proud dad moment for you as well.
Thank you.
Thanks.
