In just his fourth race, rookie sensation Haiden Deegan made his first appearance on the podium at the fourth round of the 250SX East Coast that took place in Daytona. Deegan hasn´t had a good start, but the intensity and the wild crowd cheering for him was enough to make his way up to the third place, passing veteran rider Jeremy Martin at the late stages of the Main Event.
First podium and that it´s a historic moment for you, proud dad and mom out there, they beaming, they´re exciting. Pretty big deal in your fourth race and you´ve got a podium which is incredible. How do you feel about that?
Yeah it´s definitely pretty exciting. It was one of my goals so we take off another one, so I got a taste of it, and definitely I want more.
Hayden you mentioned that this was a goal but after A2 and before you decide to go pro you said you don´t really know what to expect, that you´re just trying to learn, so I don´t think it was a goal or even expectation at that point…How do you feel about this trajectory of yours? Because it´s happening fast…
Yeah it´s definitely happening fast and after Futures (A2 race) I wasn´t sure if I was gonna race, so we pulled it and we are like `yeah, might as well go race, so go get the experience and so far it´s been doing great. Just keep on learning.
Because your dad races Supercross I think a lot of people think that he pushed you into it, but explain the breakdown of how badly you wanted to do this as a career and how your mother and father felt about it
My mom didn´t want me to race dirt bikes after all my dad went through, so we started and my dad got me on a dirt bike, his kind of it was going to happen eventually and from there I just fell in love with it. I always watch the guys outside do Freestyle and stuff, so I fell in love with dirt bikes. I’ve just been grinding to get a start, get to this spot pretty much, and race Supercross. I´ve been wanting it…I couldn´t say my whole because I`m only 17 but that little span so now Im we’re here keep getting better
So would you say this much more comes from you internally wanting to do this than people wanting you to do it…
Yeah, it`s an “all-me” thing you know. I mean, there are people like that who obviously want me to do it. My dad wants me to do it of course. We´re a racing family, so we want to keep that in the jeans and yeah ¡I want it bad!
Can you even describe what emotion is like to get your first podium in this race, especially after hearing your name called so many times before the race is it one of the favorites of the fans?
The track is not an easy one, you got to be a man to ride this track. I didnt get a great start, but I was able to my way up to third. Its a tough track you know. I was riding with good intensity and I felt great, and I was able to push through at the end. The crowd was amazing going wild the whole time. When I finish the race the adrenaline race was going. I was super happy.
