Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan has avoided a penalty for ‘reckless riding’ following his clash with teammate Cooper Webb in Los Angeles, which left the triple 450SX champion furious post-race.

Premier class newcomer Deegan crashed toward the closing stages of 450SMX moto two at Monster Energy SMX Playoff 2, only to remount and take Webb down after making contact.

Race direction has since reviewed the chain of events, electing not to penalize Deegan for the move, and with a million dollars on the line for the SMX world champion this weekend in Missouri. There was no mention of any incident following the race:

‘Race direction reviewed rider #38 (Deegan) for potential aggressive/reckless riding involving rider #2 (Webb) in section 12 after the finish line. No penalty was assessed.’

Deegan admitted that he panicked after his crash in the sand – which saw him clipped by both Shane McElrath and Ken Roczen – and apologized to Webb via the broadcast directly following the race. It’s unclear what transactions the pair had back at the team pit.

“A little unfortunate I went down – I felt so good,” Deegan recalled. “I was riding so well, I made some good passes, and then, yeah, I ended up going down in the sand, and I just got back up and some goon just, like, hammers my hand.

“But, unfortunately, I kind of panicked and, you know, rode a Coop a little dirty, which I don’t want to do that to a teammate, but I wanted every position I could get cos it’s three rounds. You gotta do what you gotta do, so no hard feelings there… Sorry about that, but I just needed those positions.

“So, I feel like, speed was good, but now we just gotta keep adding to it and come out swinging the last round. That’s all you can do. We’re second in points, so we’re not out of it.”

Webb was fiery in his response, also live on the NBC Sports coverage: “I was pissed, you know, not gonna lie. It’s unfortunate. I mean, we’re teammates, we’re buddies, we’re training partners… 
I’m all for aggressive racing, but just, the lack of respect with the kid is the common problem. He has no respect for anybody else. So, I’m bummed.

“
I mean, I was rolling, felt good. He was obviously faster, he made a mistake, but still, I’m the guy at the end of the race and yeah, I’m just bummed, you know. 
One thing if you’re for the win, something like that, but god dang, man. We’ll see, see what happens. I got one more race with this team and I’ll make hell sure he ain’t gonna win this thing, that’s for sure. 


“It’ll be interesting week, and we’ll get after it, but I was a little bit off, speed-wise, today, honestly. 
I was about the fourth or fifth best guy, so gonna work on that this week, and obviously kind of out of it, it seems like now, but anything can happen with the triple points [final round].”

While Red Bull KTM’s Jorge Prado will carry a 16-point advantage into the SMX Final over Deegan, Webb currently sitting fifth – a further four points back – with a single round remaining in the series, where triple points will be on offer in Ridgedale this weekend.