Main event winners Lawrence and Deegan recall third round.
Anaheim 2 marked the third different winners of the season in both 450SX and 250SX West, as defending champion Jett Lawrence proved to be too strong in the premier class, while Haiden Deegan got his season back on track with victory in the quarter-liter category. Both riders spoke to media following the main events for these Debrief interviews.
450SX
Jett, you were having to fight tooth and nail with Jason Anderson throughout that one. So just talk to me about that moment where you saw that opportunity and capitalized for the lead.
Yeah, I was behind Jason [Anderson] in both the heat and main, and I got to learn his lines, and obviously the main was completely different to the heat, we know. We were pushing the pace in the heat race because we had traction, but once we got to the main, it was like, once it was Jason and I one, two, I’m like, all right, let’s just try and find the safe lines and not throw it away, because it would be worse to not get a podium after crashing or something. But yeah, I just tried staying there, staying there, and this one lap I couldn’t really find anywhere, so I’m just like, gosh, I guess I just gotta balls up and just send it through the whoops, and I think we both got sketched through that lap and through that line, but was able to make a pass and get through the second set too, but no, we’re happy. Another good rebound, I guess, from A1, which is also nice, so yeah, just trying to get that points gap just less and less, but heading in the right direction, thankfully.
The track seemed very technical tonight. I believe you were the only one going over the table in that short rhythm. What was the choice to make that line?
Well, I didn’t really like tripling out because I’d go so high and it was pretty easy, like I would over jump it very easily, so I thought, I think if it didn’t rain, I kind of, after the heat race, I was seeing him going over quad, because I felt like I could get it, so I over jumped that triple into the single, but with the rain, I’m like, oh, we’ll just play it safe, and I hit it for a few laps, but then, I mean, it wasn’t like it was a break where I was making up an immense amount of time on Jason, so I’m like, oh, I’ll just hit the same and try and get it pretty good, like the off and up getting nice so you can kind of go through that triple better, so I ended up just going back, but originally I was just trying not to go off that big one and go to the sky, but yeah.
This week there was a bit of adversity on a personal level for you [and Hunter], and then I think through A1, a bit of adversity in terms of the motorcycle, so there’s some on-track adversity and some off-track adversity, but this weekend, probably when you needed to win the most in your 450 career, you were able to win. Have you learned anything about yourself as a person and as an athlete and the people that you have around you after what’s gone on in these first three weeks of this championship?
Yeah. Honestly, I just focus on myself with the bike. That’s all I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. I think going back to Florida and having a nice reset, seeing my dog, my two lizards, and just some friends and family again to kind of reset, you know, I’m, sadly, I’m not a big fan of California with driving hours to the test track and back. You kind of lose your whole day. So, it was just nice to get a reset. I only got to ride one time, but just that going back and kind of being in your own bed and that stuff just helped me just kind of focus back on myself and, you know, I got to focus on the championship. I don’t really have time to try and focus on during the week drama. I have a very good agency with Wasserman and my managers, Jacob Hayes and Travis Clarke. So they handle that stuff for me. I don’t need to worry about that. I’m focused on racing dirt bikes which I get paid to do and I’m going to do that the best I can. You know, I don’t need any other drama outside, you know, so I just focus on riding my bike, getting that better, getting myself better and just keep my head down.
And this win, how important was this win on track for you tonight?
It was just good to know I can win a main event again, honestly. So, yeah, it was just good to get back on that track and just kind of keep that momentum going.
This year I feel like the track crew, like leaving the quad in last week, we’ve had some variations in whoops. I personally think that the whoops have made for great racing at all three rounds. What’s your take on, not just the builds of the track, but maybe Feld and Dirt Works taking on some of the criticism or advice?
Yeah, I’m a fan of having the harder whoops, you know, like a lot of us, like top guys, we practice and we train a lot on whoops to try and become better. You can gain a lot, but you can also lose a lot there. So I think when we had the nine whoops where if you weren’t as good at a skimmer, you could just go jump to them three times and get out of it, it’s kind of like unfair in a way, like because the guys who have worked their butt off to try and skim better and get the bike where it works better and that’s tough because it is hard to skim. It’s a lot more of a technical thing. You have to put it on this much of the whoop, even though the whoops is big, you’re still only hitting like just a small spot. So I think having the more whoops is better and having them steamroll to make sure they kind of stay a little bit more skimmers. I think for better Supercross skimmer whoops like Kenny [Roczen], Jason, Eli [Tomac], myself, Chase [Sexton], like we have a bit of an upper hand because we took that time to work on that. So I think I’m a fan of having more whoops and more difficult ones. Like I mean, I struggle in these whoops today, even like I got by sideways a few times, like, but it kind of creates good racing.
Obviously, round one was not what you wanted. You battled back and round two and had that great ride with Eli. Now tonight, you take your first win of the season. Were you worried or did you know that you’d be back on track this weekend or sometime soon?
No, I wasn’t too worried personally because I know like the first round was a bit of a bike thing, but also just if I didn’t make the second mistake of crashing, I mean, I was in front of Eli, so I could have been fifth or fourth and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So it was just kind of a decision thing. Like my riding is good. I feel good on the bike. It was just kind of those helping the bike help me out more, you know? Like obviously I’m human. I can make mistakes. I’m not going to be picture-perfect always. I guess we try our best to, but we can always make silly mistakes, you know, that are uncalled for and that you don’t mean to make. But setting up a bike really good obviously helps that a bit. So the first round didn’t really help that a lot. But yeah, we’ve always just kind of kept it hot, like kept looking at the bike and ourself, you know, not always like it’s only the bike’s fault. There are also things that I could be better on, exactly like I said on the first round. Like that wasn’t so much a bike problem, you know? Like the second mistake of me crashing, that’s a me mistake. I didn’t see the top block of my hand hit it, you know? Like so, you know, it just helps motivate me more, you know? This puts me in a challenging position where I just have to make sure I kind of focus. I don’t have any more mulligans anymore. So I just got to make sure I get to each race and focus and execute.
Racing against Jason, is it a case of knowing your past with him? There seemed to be a little bit more caution behind setting that pass up to make sure there was no rebound.
It’s more so like just trying to find where a good place to pass them without making contact. I don’t always want to come in and just hit someone. Like we were talking last weekend with Eli, we had really, really good racing because we got close multiple times. I mean, Jason and I got close on the three-on. Like I was looking above his helmet on the 3-on. Like we got close but we never touched. So I feel like again, that’s fun racing to me. You know, I love racing when it’s close and Jason’s really good at defending, you know, like going right after, going like across and stand low in the berm where I couldn’t do anything. Like it’s fun racing and it’s learning for me. And mainly that whole main is just trying to make sure I can find a rhythm and like safe lines everywhere because it was so greasy. So you couldn’t really sprint at all, you know, because you’re most likely going to end up on your head. So it’s kind of just trying to be smart. And I finally got close enough in the whoops and I was just trying to make something happen and try and get past and was able to do it. I mean, we both got sketchy through the whoops that lap. I’m pretty sure like it was those whoops were pretty, yeah, very edgy and slippery but yeah, it was just more so trying to be patient and not try and force anything or push anything where it’s gonna make a mistake further on, you know.
250SX
Haiden, I got the strong impression you were pretty fired up this evening. I know that you perform so well under pressure. Did you get any sense of pressure coming into today?
No, no pressure, just straight war mode. I’m like, dude, I’m blocking out everything, I need to win. And that’s like what it came down to. Me and Christian [Craig], we put in way too much work for me to be third place. So that’s not happening. It was just about being war-ready.
You come in knowing you got to make some things happen. You [and Julien Beaumer] went at it right from timed qualifying. The back-and-forth was awesome. The heat race was good. But then that look over on the opening lap of the main event was just like, all right, here we go.
Yeah, definitely. I mean, he’s got the red plate now. So I’m going to ride him like he’s got the red plate. But obviously, it’s good racing. It’s all, I mean, it’s supercross. You’re going to get into it. And honestly, the pass I did on him was clean. He just kind of got a little stuck on the berm. But it’s supercross. We’re having some fun. And I’m sure JuJu’s having fun, too. I mean, the main event, he kind of ran in a little as well and looked over on each other on the double, it’s fun. I enjoy that. But obviously, I want to be first at the end of the race.
You’ve struggled with starts so far this season. You absolutely nailed the start and the main event. Give us real talk. What changed? Was it the gate pick, a little bit of advice? Was it something you did at the track? What’s the difference?
I don’t know. I mean, I just did a lot of work this week, and that’s what it comes down to, is if you want to get good at something, you just got to nail it a lot of times. So I was just grinding, grinding the starts and grinding the bike setup because I was having to do these races at 70% with my arms pumped up. So now I can do it at 70 percent with my oxygen there and everything and my arms feeling great. Like today was an absolute movie. I pretty much got to the lead and could just ride my race at pretty much 70, 80 percent and finish the race. And I feel like I could go another hour if I wanted to. So yeah, but we’re feeling good.
Going back to second qualifying, the last one of the day, I watched it from the stands and paid attention to you [and Julien]. You had kind of a frustrating one. You tried to do a fast lap. You had some people mess theirs up. Then, when you went for a fast lap, you washed out. So what was that session like knowing, hey, I want to make a point against him right now, and then having it not happen the way you wanted it to?
Yeah, I actually was on an absolute burn, like a perfect lap. I was like, I literally nailed everything. Nailed the whoops and I was like, this is going to be fast. And then literally washed out the last straight away up the finish. But then I was like, I mean, I’m third, you’re just first. It’s perfect. We’re in the same heat. So it’s going to be a battle. But yeah, it didn’t really bother me. I mean, it is what it is.
Did this feel like a must-win? I mean, you’ve kind of had this, like, weird career progression where it’s, like, first year, no one expects anything, second year, almost no one expects anything, this year it’s just, like, hey, this dude needs to win, and he needs to dominate two rounds of no-winning. Was this the first time in your career where you were, like, hey, I actually have to win this race this weekend?
Yeah, I mean, it’s quite a long season. I actually, I thought the season was shorter. It actually kind of brought some stress off my shoulders, but honestly, I can’t even look at those last two races because, I mean, I didn’t have my bike set up right, and that’s just how it is. It’s part of the game. It’s dirt bike racing, and now that I got the bike set up, I’m a whole different rider out there, and that’s kind of, that’s what we’re looking for.
Is the farm versus California thing that different for bike set-up? Like were you guys that far off, just purely based on location?
Yeah, it’s hard to say because some days at the farm will be hard-packed or not, I mean, maybe I just really didn’t set up my bike that great at the farm anyways. Like, when I was riding at the farm, I kind of struggled with my bike setup a little bit. So I mean, we got down to the West Coast, and it wasn’t too great at the first two rounds, but I will tell you, we got that bike down now. Jake, the suspension guy, we grinded that and we got it good. My whoops are just unreal right now. The bike is perfect. So I’m super proud of the boys over there.
On the podium, you sort of mentioned Juju’s comments last week, sort of fired you up. Is that something that fuels you for this, or is it as simple as Haiden Deegan loves a rivalry?
I mean, I always love a rivalry. Honestly, I don’t know how to say that word. Oh, damn. But yeah, I was just seeing this on the internet, you know, people in their, like, click-bait their podcasts. I’m like, who knows if he said that? Because I don’t only watch your videos, but honestly, if he did, then cool, because now I’m mad and I want to win. So I’m going to figure out how to do that. But who knows? Yeah, I kind of use, use that stuff as a little motivation to get me fired up for the next weeks. And Juju is riding good though. He’s been consistent. So we got to get our stride back and, you know, keep chopping at that points lead.
We know you’re working with Christian Craig. Obviously, you guys are good friends, and he’s a great rider to his own name. What’s something that you’ve learned from him, or is it just having a friend in the corner that’s helped you out, or what are you guys striving for working with Christian this year?
Yeah, I definitely think some people are starting to kind of doubt me. Working with Christian was the right thing, and I kind of had to take a step back in my preseason. I was like, I need to focus on myself. And kind of, I mean, these last few races didn’t really show how much work we put in. And Christian’s been a great mentor for me. He’s, I mean, the dude’s been through the highs and lows majorly in this sport. He’s seen it all, so he’s kind of been there as a friend and a guy to be like, all right, now you need to pick it up and work harder. So he definitely has both sides to him. But I mean, it’s been super good.