Deegan does it again!

With a thrilling, come-from-behind 1st & 2nd place 250cc class two moto effort at Saturday’s Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by the AMA, Round No. 2 at Hangtown MX in Prairie City, Calif., Monster Energy’s Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha) took the overall class win – and extended his overall series points lead to 13 points ahead of Monster Energy’s Levi Kitchen (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) – who placed a solid 3rd at Hangtown.

Deegan’s run at the win was nothing short of spectacular as he had to battle back, from 10th place at the end of the opening lap, to catch Monster Energy-backed early race leader Chance Hymas (Honda) late in the contest for the Moto 1 win. In Moto 2 Deegan pulled the Motosport.com Holeshot and took the early race lead before Deegan got absolutely LAUNCHED off the high side of his bike and into and aerial 360 before splashing down in the soil of the former NASA rocket testing area. Deegan quickly remounted and was able to snatch back 2nd place in Moto 2 to seal the overall victory with a 1-2 finish.

Said Deegan of the opening 250 moto: “Coming from the back, I think I was like 10th after the first lap, obviously, I had to make some passes. Everyone in this class is pretty frisky, and going pretty fast. So it’s quite hard to get through the pack. But I found a good line where I could make passes every lap and just stuck to that line and slowly picked them off. By the end I was in the lead.”

And as for the Moto 2 crash and rebound, Deegan said: “I haven’t had one of those (high side launch crashes) since Mini Os (Florida amateur MX race). Way harder hit than I did today. Came out of it safe and all I could think about was getting back to the bike, because I knew Levi was coming.”

Kitchen, in fact, was coming, though it’d be KTM’s Tom Vialle that got by Deegan for the Moto 2 win, with Deegan begin able to hold off Kitchen for 2nd place to secure the overall. 

Added Kitchen: “It started off a little slow in qualifying for me, but it felt like I got a little bit better of a flow in the motos. I was happy with my starts. You just have to be up there, so yeah, overall I was a little bit off pace, but I think, as far as points goes, it wasn’t a bad day for me.”

In 450 class action Monster Energy just barely missed out on the box with Justin Cooper (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) placing 4th on the day – with one of two Monster Energy moto podium finishes (4-3). Jason Anderson (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) ran up front the whole day, putting up his best result of the young season thus far with a 5th overall (3-5). Monster Energy’s Dylan Ferrandis (Phoenix/Honda) rounded out the 450 class top ten in scoring with a 7th place run (6-8).

Notes & Quotes

• “Haiden got in the zone and was not to be denied in this first moto.” – NBC announcer James Stewart on Deegan’s Moto 1 win.
• “I grew up on trampolines and stuff, so when I get in the air I kind of know where I’m at.” – Deegan on his 360 high side crash at Hangtown.
• Hangtown had cool WWE-style heavyweight champion belts for the Monster Energy podium finishers Deegan and Kitchen.
• Hymas, in just his sophomore year as a pro – and first full outdoor MX season – is racing extremely well. He actually tied Kitchen for the 3rd and final podium spot, which was (tie) broken by virtue of Kitchen’s 3rd place finish in Moto 2 to Hymas’ 4th.
• Newly minted Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racer Ty Masterpool scored his first top ten finish on Mitch Payton’s team with a 6-11 run to 8th place overall in the 250 class.
• “Pretty good day. Qualified in 4th I think. First moto I got pushed out, don’t know how I didn’t go down, and came back from like 28th to 6th. Second moto I got a really good start, pushed my way into 2nd, then I popped my rib out and couldn’t breathe. Bummed with that, but a lot of good stuff to take away from the day.” – Monster Energy’s Ty Masterpool
• “That five seconds of chaos opened the door for the rest of the day – and the championship.” – NBC’s Stewart on the gnarly opening 450 moto get off by Honda’s Jett Lawrence, which unfortunately ended his outdoor race winning streak at 24.
• Monster Energy’s Anderson had a crash of his own in the opening 450 moto, while running in 2nd place, which dashed his hopes at an overall podium at Hangtown.
• “Overall, compared to last weekend, (I was) a lot more closer to pace. I’m happy with the improvement, but can’t quite ride how I’d like to yet.” Monster Energy’s Jo Shimoda (Honda).
• “Made a little bit of a bike change, but it didn’t go in the right direction. Sometimes you hit it and get a home run. And sometimes you miss. Just need to keep it going to get that podium.” – Monster Energy’s Chance Hymas (Honda)

Up next: Round 3 of the 2024 Pro Motocross Championship moves to Lakewood, Colorado’s Thunder Valley Raceway, June 8. For more information on the AMA Pro Motocross Championships, link to www.promotocross.com