We entered the Supercross bye week after Indianapolis with things looking a bit bleak in the 450 Points race after another Cooper Webb win, stretching his points lead to 15 over Red Bull KTM's Chase Sexton. Both of the top two riders in this title fight have historically been good in the late stages of the season, which certainly would play into the hands of the current points leader of Star Yamaha. Neither won at Birmingham a year ago, but it was Sexton who started the weekend off the right way, pacing the 450 field in qualifying by nearly going a second faster than anyone else for the third and final Triple Crown of 2025. Now... unfortunately, one of the stars of the 250 class, who was still on an off week, didn't have the best start to his weekend.
Haiden Deegan Arrested
By now, I would imagine most people know the story: One Haiden Deegan was arrested in Walton County, Florida, on Friday evening for a street racing/stunt driving violation, being released on a 1000 dollar bond after a two-hour booking. We also came to found out the he was on a family trip with his sibilings Hailie and Huckson, and parents Brian and Marrisa, making this whole situation a bit more complex. Word of the arrest spread like wildfire around the time practice kicked off Saturday, as did his booking info and mugshot.
In line with the James Stewart arrest in 2011, this certainly isn't a nothing situation for the current 250 West points leader. Street racing, especially given that he's potentially putting other people at risk, and for what exactly? You're telling me that a teenage millionaire doesn't have the money to go to a private track with his Audi whenever he wants? Remarkably stupid and preventable, but hopefully this is the catalyst for him to smarten up his act. I can't imagine the brass at Star Yamaha are exactly thrilled. As of 5:00 EST Sunday, they haven't released any sort of statement on the incident.
Daytime Program/Injury Notes:
- I liked the bridge jump into the sand section personally. Nice way to slow things down just a tad with a smaller floor plan.
- Christian Craig officially made his season debut, while Max Anstie suffered a broken leg in qualifying, while additionally, Malcolm Stewart had a rough get-off, and we found out that Ken Roczen suffered an AC Joint injury over the break.
- There's a chance Jett Lawrence misses the begining of Motocross per Steve Matthes.
- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 56 Seth Hammaker (58.618)
- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 4 Chase Sexton (57.228)
250 Class Recap
1st - No. 41 Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (3-3-2)
Now, five wins in five rounds for the 250 East region, Nate Thrasher also makes it two straight feel-good wins. Injuries have cost him a ton of time over the last few years, and the Tennessee native had a very lackluster opening four rounds coming into the night: A pair of 8ths, a 5th, and a 14th in Indianapolis. While he's still without a race win, the results certainly were better over a decent sample size with three podium runs. Thrasher has always struck me as one of the better guys in this class, and I hope he can continue to prove that down the stretch of this campaign.
2nd - No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) (1-2-5)
I believe it was Matthes on his own Twitter on the 1s&2s of the Racer X account who said all that R.J. had to do was not make a mistake, and he'd be in a great spot. Spoiler: He was nearly on the ground a clean 30 seconds after that tweet crossed my eyes because it's always something with Rick James. Still, it was a really good night in the big picture, though, and he could've used those extra three points with the races winding down.
3rd - No. 1 Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) (2-5-3)
I want to think Vialle would want to be winning a bit more at this point in the year, but that feature they ran last night couldn't have aired on a better race weekend, quite frankly. A solid podium night and an unfortunate injury to his closest rival, Max Anstie, means his points lead went from one point coming into the weekend now up to 10 on Hampshire and 13 on Hammaker. We saw Vialle manage this Championship really well last year, and now he's in an excellent position to do that once again. As another bonus, he gets a quick off week again before we begin a four-week gauntlet.
11th - No. 60 Carson Mumford (Quadlock Honda) (4-5-DNF)
I'm getting dangerously close to saying I hate this sport now over the injuries this year; there's no chance 2023 was worse than this, and we still have seven rounds left. Mumfy was putting together a season-best night before that incident that left him limping over to the Alpinstars mule and would've probably walked out of Birmingham either seventh or sixth in the standings, which isn't a nothing thing for a group like Quadlock Honda. Hopefully, this wasn't anything serious, but what an awful weekend for injuries.
250 Class Birmingham Top 10
1st No. 41 Nate Thrasher (3-3-2)
2nd No. 24 R.J. Hampshire (1-2-5)
3rd No. 1 Tom Vialle (2-5-3)
4th No. 56 Seth Hammaker (9-1-1)
5th No. 34 Daxton Bennick (8-7-4)
6th No. 92 Max Vohland (4-6-10)
7th No. 10 Chance Hymas (6-10-6)
8th No. 59 Cullin Park (10-9-7)
9th No. 87 Hardy Munoz (7-11-8)
10th No. 83 Austin Forkner (11-8-9)
450 Class Recap
1st - No. 4 Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) (1-1-2)
I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't expecting things to go sideways in short order once Sexton gave up the lead to Webb in that final Main Event, but to his credit, the '23 Champ did the smart thing and played it safe, even though it felt like he had Webb beat on pace. Well, that paid off in spades because Sexton, who was phenomenal the entire day, cut Webb's points lead in half from 15-to-8 with seven rounds left. Historically (outside of 2023), you don't see points surges late in the year, and while I'm still skeptical about his chances since he has to beat Webb, of all people, this was a great place to start coming out of the break.
2nd - No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) (3-2-3)
In the event you didn't get a chance to see it, here's the qualifying crash that was the cause of some excruciating pain for Mookie throughout Saturday night.
We visibly saw him moving pretty badly and gritting his teeth back at the Husky truck after that first race, and by the sounds of it, things didn't get much better by the end of the night, making this run all the more impressive. Don't ever accuse The Fever of any lack of effort.
4th - No. 2 Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) (7-4-1)
In a vacuum, Webb should be fine with this fourth, but to see half of your points lead get flushed down the drain in one night's work while the guy behind you nearly sweeps the evening has to sting a little. Knowing him, this night won't exactly discourage him, but the one thing Sexton definitely has on him is pace, and now he seemingly has momentum on his side as well. Seattle was huge for him a year ago, and he could use another statement win in the PNW to begin putting the finishing touches on this title.
7th - No. 21 Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) (5-8-12)
If I had a dollar for every round to go as sideways as things have sometimes gone for Jason Anderson at Kawasaki, I'd be a trillionaire (don't worry about the math; it checks out). First, it was Sexton giving him a wheel, then Webb, and then a freak opening lap crash in Main 3, which, luckily, he was able to remount after and come home 12th. But man, how does this guy continue to show off race-winning speed 90% of the time but have the worst luck of just about anyone (short of getting injured)?
450 Class Birmingham Top 10
1st No. 4 Chase Sexton (1-1-2)
2nd No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (3-2-3)
3rd No. 7 Aaron Plessinger (2-3-5)
4th No. 2 Cooper Webb (7-2-1)
5th No. 94 Ken Roczen (4-6-4)
6th No. 32 Justin Cooper (6-7-6)
7th No. 21 Jason Anderson (5-8-12)
8th No. 12 Shane McElrath (8-12-9)
9th No. 51 Justin Barcia (18-5-7)
10th No. 57 Benny Bloss (10-10-11)
450 and 250 Class Points Stadnings after Birmingham
Main Image via KTM
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