Image: Octopi Media.

A breakout heat race win in Tampa came as an early milestone in the AMA Supercross career of Haiden Deegan, with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider notching the result in just his second 250SX outing.

After an eventful Supercross Futures final at Anaheim, Deegan impressed with an inspired fourth-place finish the following Saturday in his 250SX East debut at Houston.

Just seven days on, Deegan launched to the early lead in heat two at Raymond James Stadium and led every lap on his way to ultimately take a 2.924s victory ahead of fellow rookie Chance Hymas (Team Honda HRC), and Jeremy Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha). Later in the main event, he went on to secure fourth place for the second consecutive week.

“It was a super-awesome day,” recalled Deegan. “I didn’t feel that great in qualifying, but the track changes a lot, so it’s a lot different in the night show. I ended up getting the holeshot and winning my heat race, and I was like, ‘this is awesome!’ It feels so good to win again.

“Then in the main event, I got a good start and came out second. I was able to run in fourth and was smooth and consistent. I had J-Mart [Jeremy Martin] pressuring me until there were a couple of laps to go. Then I was able to open the gap up a little bit and finish fourth for the second week in a row.”

Following a strong yet consistent start to the season, Deegan sits third in the 250SX East standings as the eastern regional riders will return to competition on 25 February at the Arlington Triple Crown.