So it’s finally happening. Haiden Deegan is going 450 supercross racing, the wait is over and all eyes will be on Deegan in November – just the way he likes it.
Deegan rides with heart and desire and isn’t afraid to ride the edge but make no mistake, he is smarter than he is probably given credit for. There is usually thought process behind everything he does, on and off the bike and his move to the 450 class is, as usual, very well thought out.
The Deegans’ jumped to the Star Yamaha team to go professional after spending their amateur career on KTM to maximise Haiden’s chance of success. The Yamaha was proven, it was the best bike and the move worked with Deegan showing his full potential in the 250 class as he went on to win SMX, outdoors and supercross to become the dominant rider in the class.
Now the move to the 450 is being equally as calculated. It was not uncommon 20 -30 years ago to have full-time 125 riders testing the waters in the premier class before they moved up full-time, Kevin Windham even won a 250 main event in 1997 when he was in the middle of successfully defending his 125 supercross title, Ricky Carmichael has since admitted he should have done something similar before going to 250 supercross.
The Deegan family have clearly taken all this on-board and with Haiden not doing any 450 supercross races yet, they have taken the opportunity to get their feet wet in WSX, while being paid a rumoured $200,000 dollars per event to do so!
It is the perfect plan. They get to see how Deegan stacks up against established front runners like Roczen, Cooper and Anderson in Argentina then add Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac added to the mix in Australia, a gradual strengthening of talent as Deegan gets to mark his pace against some of the top riders without the intensity and depth that Anaheim one would provide. Room to learn without the pressure of a championship to worry about, and valuable time to set that 450 up in race conditions.
That in turn gives them time to decide if he is ready to go for A1 and the initial West coast swing for 450 series. Again, there seems to be a plan once that bridge is crossed. If Deegan does make his AMA 450 debut at A1 and it goes well, Deegan can continue through the West rounds, if it suddenly does goes wrong, he can still use plan B and drop back to a 250 for the East Coast and try to win the one 250 title he hasn’t won Stateside before moving up full-time to the 450 for outdoors.
It all means even in the worst case scenario Deegan will have way more experience heading into 2027 450 supercross and an extra half a million dollars if he wins 250 East.
Of course, Deegan will be hoping he will be ruffling feathers from the first gatedrop and we might just get the battles with a flurry of legends from Tomac to Roczen to Sexton who, perhaps, have been waiting to give Deegan a welcome to the 450 class moment.
That’s before we even mention the rivalry that has been brewing off track for years with Jett Lawrence (and Hunter who he has previous with)! If it all goes to plan, he and Jett Lawrence could start a rivalry that could light up the sport for the next decade.
Either way there will be drama with Deegan, this time it will be under the brightest lights and amongst the biggest name in the sport. The world will be watching and WSX gets to benefit from the Deegan plan. Right now, everyone is the winner because it will only build the hype for A1 if Deegan comes out swinging in November.
