Haiden Deegan Talks Arlington | Vital MX Interview 7

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan continued his impressive rookie season as an athlete in Monster Energy Supercross on Saturday night, as he sprinted to eighth overall inside of Arlington's AT&T Stadium. The ranking may not scream positivity, but that was hindered by a crash in the first main. Outside of that incident, which was the result of a poor start, '238' proved that he is ready to fight for podiums and the lessons learned in Texas will only aid him in that mission. This Vital MX interview, which was conducted by Michael Lindsay, touches on all of that. Support from DeCal Works means that the chat is available in both written and video form.

Vital MX: We talked about your consistency on press day, but we saw a rookie moment in the first main. Can you walk us through that one?

Haiden Deegan: Yeah, stuff happens. I did not get the greatest start and got a little impatient. That is where I needed… I have never really been back there and mixed up with the guys further back. I have not been mixed up with them yet and that was my first time. I figured out how they ride – they want to go for your neck a little bit. I realized that. We have got to be patient when we are back there. I was trying to make passes and made a mistake before the whoops, then I got into the whoops and my foot came off. We crashed. We got fifteenth in the first race, which was not where I wanted to be and that was unfortunate. I was not happy with that. I knew that we had the speed – I was riding good and felt good. I knew that I could finish around fourth or fifth place fine. We holeshot from the very outside in the second main. Well, almost. I technically got the holeshot because I kind of got [Jordon] Smith through the rhythm, but he parked me before the finish. It was close.

I got a good start from the outside and that [second] race was good. I flowed the whole time and rode smooth. I just made sure that I was able to go over the finish line without being at the back. I had a good start in the third race; I think I came out fifth or something like that. I may have made one pass or something. It was nothing crazy. I just locked in and started riding smooth. The track was hammered, so you had to be a smart rider today. I think that it bit a lot of people, including me. I would say that mine was down to a mistake myself, whereas a few other guys had the track bite them in that third moto. That last moto was just about riding smooth and finishing out strong. 15-5-4… I mean, I would have been happy if we had a good first moto. We have learned that now though. We have got to go and work on some more sprints.

The dragon's back and on/off looked tough by your third race. Jeez!

Yeah, it was hammered. There was a line: We ended up jumping between the dragon's back and then jumping on/off. It was a pretty hefty line, but that ended up becoming the line. The track really deteriorated a lot more than I thought. I watched a lot of footage back and I did not see that. It kind of caught off me guard a little bit, but we were able to adapt by the end.

We all think of Arlington as having really good dirt, but there were slick spots by that third main. The worst part is that it looks clumpy on top, but you blow through it in a few spots that you do not expect.

Exactly! Before I crashed in the whoops in that first race, I was making a pass or whatever and cut down. I thought that I was going to hook up. Instantly, the rear slid out and I tucked the front a little. This dirt… This is why we are here a year early. The plan was not to race this season, but we wanted to do this and learn. I am learning the dirt and learning the tracks – this is what I wanted to do. I will know that this dirt is slick next year and that you cannot cut down. That is just the stuff that I am learning and what we are going to have to deal with this year.

Last question. Are you making many bike adjustments or keeping it stable on race day? Are you starting to get confident enough to make some decisions on set-up to chase the conditions?

If I am being honest, I have not changed my bike once since the first race. I have been able to keep the same set-up – I am just able to adapt to the bike. It is kind of weird. I have never really been the guy who wants to change a bunch of stuff, I just adapt to it. I feel like that can be a good and bad thing sometimes. Adapting to the bike is good, so I am happy. I am on a good bike too, so I know that I am going to have a good bike at each race. I am happy with the team, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, and they are doing great.