Haiden Deegan Crushes St. Louis 250 Showdown to Clinch Supercross Title

Not much arguing who the biggest draw is on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross tour as all eyes were on Monster Energy’s Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha) as the hottest dirt bike racer on the planet wicked ‘er up on St. Louis’ Dome at America’s Center track and absolutely dominated Saturday’s 250 East/West Showdown, scoring his sixth victory of the season by nearly 16 seconds (15.654) ahead of second place’s Cole Davies (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha). Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker would round out the all-Monster Energy 250 East/West podium, some 27 seconds back of Deegan.

With the victory Deegan also clinched – three rounds early – the overall Monster Energy AMA Supercross’ 250 WSX championship – ahead of Monster Energy racers Levi Kitchen (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) and Max Anstie (Star Racing/Yamaha).

“History book stuff right there, even though they (AMA officials) were trying to take it away from me – we got it done,” said Deegan of the Birmingham (Ala.) round where he was penalized a position (1^st to 2^nd) for cutting the track. “Pretty cool to put the name in the record books right there.” 

Rounding out the top ten in scoring for Monster Energy in St. Louis’ 250 East/West Showdown were Nate Thrasher (Star Racing/Yamaha) with an excellent run to 4^th place, Kitchen in 7^th and Nicholas Romano (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) in 9^th.

The 450 class saw Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Justin Cooper put up his best finish of the season – a 2^nd place runner-up run that put him comfortably ahead of Honda’s Joey Savatgy for 5^th place overall in the standings, 198-153.

Said Cooper of his main event effort at St. Louis: “The starts have kind of been lacking, and I feel like we found something there (tonight). Really made my life a lot easier. Able to ride my own laps and blitz the whoops. Times where that needs to happen, and that was one of them.

“And the jumps almost became a breathing point for me. Rather than riding that bucking bronco when they get rough.”

Rounding out the top ten scoring in the 450 class for Monster Energy were Cooper Webb (Star Racing/Yamaha) in 5^th place and Garrett Marchbanks (Kawasaki) in 9^th. Also noteworthy was the crash (cased jump) that took out Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Chase Sexton on Lap 12 of the 450 main. Sexton, who placed 2^nd at the previous round (Detroit), was in 5^th place after the opening lap.

 Overall Standings (12 of 17 rounds)

Notes & Quotes

• Four years and six championships later, Deegan is ready to move up to the premier 450 class. “It kept me in the class long enough that I felt I was able to keep learning. Checked off a lot of the boxes I needed,” he said.
• Deegan, on moving up to the 450 class for the Outdoor Nationals… “Bobby (Regan, Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha team owner) offered me two million (dollars) to race the outdoors on a 250. … Nah, I’m just kidding.”
• For the record, Deegan has won every 250 championship possible (SX, MX, SMX) – twice.
• “I just want to say I hope Jo’s (Shimoda/Honda) all good. Hate to see that happen. And yeah, congrats on Haiden.” – Davies
• “That was the gnarliest track I’ve ever ridden in my life. It was rutty. It was gnarly. It was brutal.” – Davies on the St. Louis track
• “Definitely a tough race track, as we all know,” said Hammaker. “Staying consistent, but Cole’s been riding well. Need to bring some more speed the next couple races, take some more risks.”
• “I think I’m known for my consistency. This year, there’s kind of some aggression mixed in.” – Cooper
• Webb was the No. 1 Hard Charger on the 450s, going from 12^th to 5^th in a +7 performance.

Up next: Monster Energy AMA Supercross heads to Nashville’s Nissan Stadium for Round 13, April 11^.