Cooper Webb returned to the top step of the 450SX podium for the second consecutive weekend, claiming sole possession of the red plate after a chaotic night of Triple Crown racing in Arlington. In the 250SX West division, Haiden Deegan posted a dominant victory after three come-from-behind rides, securing the red plate in the class. Both riders were available to the media following the main events for this Debrief feature.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Coop, congratulations on another race win. How does this win stand out among the rest you have here in Arlington?

A little bit of luck on this one, as we know. I think it was a great ride in the last two main events, but Chase [Sexton] had that incident with me and it gave me the win. So I didn’t feel like I was the best guy tonight, but I put myself in good positions and made the most of it. But yeah, it’s crazy statistically here. I’ve had a lot of success, so it’s an awesome feeling.

Can you take us through the weekend as a whole? Yesterday, you had an incident where you went over the backside of the berm, went back to the truck and just decompressed, I know there was a lot of concern from people about how you were going to be, but you bounced back. So overall, how was the weekend?

Yeah, yesterday was a bummer. Had that little crash, a bit of a sore wrist, but it’s dirt bikes. You get back on and you go from there. But overall, today was a great day. I mean, there was a lot of noise this weekend with the red plate and the talk of how well I’ve done here in the past. So you’re quickly reminded of all the hype when you put yourself in these positions, but that’s what you strive to do. Overall, as a weekend, it was great. I had some of my nieces and nephews here, and we rode good all day. I kind of base my weekends now on my overall riding, and I felt like all day I rode really well.

You’ve won two premier class championships before. And I’m sure when you debriefed from the season as a whole in both of those years, you can pinpoint a night where things maybe went your way, and that helped towards the championship. Do you think that tonight could potentially be a night like that for you? 

I mean, you have highs, and you start to think of the good side, right? I’ve been in a similar position before, and you think of those years and you see the trend. But it’s motorsports. I think yesterday reminded us of that. It was a quick reminder that you can get put back to reality quickly. So I think staying in the moment is important, but yeah, tonight was huge for us overall, that we’re leaving with the red plate. It was something that after the first main event, I dug myself a big hole, so I didn’t see that happening. But last weekend was good to just get the first win, get the confidence, and have a good week, coming into here. The ball’s rolling, but you can’t get ahead of yourself. I’m definitely in a great spot mentally, physically, and everything like that, and ready to charge for this championship.

Can we dig into that sixth place finish in race one just a little bit more? What were you going through at that time, and did winning race two change that momentum? Did you think you were going to get it up until the very end of race three?

The first one was honestly just a bad start. I rode great, just went way too wide in the first turn, got pushed, and came out 11th or 12th I think, and you just can’t do that in a Triple Crown, especially the first one when everyone’s going for it, the track’s fresh, and there’s not much time. So I knew to get on the box tonight, I needed to have low scores in the last two, so that was my game plan to ultimately try to win the last two and see where it put me. I knew going into the last one, even if I won the race, you know, I was not likely to win the overall. That’s when all this craziness happened, it was like, holy cow, you know, it swung a totally different way than I was anticipating.

We hear a lot that you don’t have the raw speed, but you have the race technique. But if you look at your lap times, a lot of times you are the fastest or the second fastest. So I don’t think that is a fact. Does that bother you?

I mean, it doesn’t bother me, right? I think it’s been something that’s been said for a long time. I mean, I do rarely qualify first in practice. I think that’s a fair statement. And you can fairly say sometimes I don’t have the speed. I mean, I wouldn’t say tonight I was the fastest guy. I was close, but I don’t think I was the fastest. But with that being said, we did 60 laps tonight. So you got to put yourself in good positions. And we work on it. At the farm, I’ve got great teammates and riders and training partners, and the speed is always there, you know? So it helps me there. But yeah, I mean, sometimes it’s fair to say. Sometimes I would say it’s not fair to say by any means.

It always seems you’re somewhat counted out coming into these championships. Does that motivate you? It seems to have happened for a number of years, even though you’re a two-time champ, you’re still counted out sometimes.

Oh, for sure. I think it’s no question. Am I always the title favorite? These competitors are insane. They’ve got a lot of speed, a lot of talent and a lot of championships themselves. But I just kind of always try to put myself in a good position. I know what I can do on a dirt bike and what team is behind me. I never count myself out. So, yeah, sometimes it’s a little annoying, more than frustrating. Just kind of like, ‘Hey, guys, I don’t know why I’m not in the conversation.’ But it is what it is. It fires me up and keeps me in it. No doubt.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Tonight, Haiden Deegan, this one was important. How did you mentally prepare for today? Because it just seemed all day your demeanor was stone cold and locked in.

I just needed to get back to the danger zone pretty much. I’ve been lacking that. Yeah, just get back to how, I mean, I feel like I used to have a lot of intensity. That’s kind of what I’m known for, grit and intensity and just that dog in me. And that’s what I had to get back to working towards during the week. I feel like it’s back. Got the dub. So it worked a little bit.

I want to touch on that. I felt like at the beginning of the year, you were a little bit more loose with your personality. And then now we’ve seen this big shift like you just talked about, all business. What in these past weeks or this time off, can you pinpoint made you think this needs to change? I need to show up to the race and be this guy to get my job done.

I just want to win so bad. So it’s trying to stay locked in now during these weeks. And I mean, also during the weeks trying to make it fun for me. I thrive off of that. I’m still young, I’m still a teenager. So I want to go have fun during the week. And it helps me perform on the weekends. So yeah, kind of go back to that kid lifestyle during the week. And then when I come to the race, it’s just, you know, go out there and lock in and have some fun and put in the work.

What is the kid lifestyle? What are some of the things that were that lifestyle for you?

I don’t know, just hanging out with chicks and stuff. Let’s go. Sorry, my mom’s in the back. She’s gonna be mad, but yeah. We won, so we’re good, we’re good. But yeah, I ain’t gonna get too into detail.

We didn’t see Christian Craig behind the gate with you this weekend. There are some rumors that you’re no longer working with him. Can you confirm or deny it? And if so, what was the reason behind it?

Yeah, Christian’s still a big part of the Star program over there. He still helps mentor all of us. And he’s still in my corner as a friend. Swanny [Gareth Swanepoel] was already helping us in the first place, sending the program to Christian and we were applying it, I was trying my own one-on-one thing, you know, I was trying to ride by myself and see if I could get better in a way. And evidently, it’s none of Christian’s fault. It’s my decision at the end of the day. I went back to training with the team and Swanny. And get that intensity back. And I feel like riding by myself, maybe I lost a little bit of that. I just had to get back in that Swanny training with those guys and battling it out and having those rivals during the week. So, yeah, that’s the only reason.

You have the speed to come from the back with the bad starts to get to the front. I’m just wondering if you want to make your life a little easier, maybe pull a start and not have to pull so many tear-offs.

I mean, it’s honestly fun. I was laughing through some of those motos with the bump-and-run stuff. You know, that was pretty funny. I enjoyed those. But I’ve got to study these starts and get to work on them with the team and figure them out because clearly, the East Coast boys got their starts figured out. So, I mean, it could be me, it could be the bike. We just have to figure it out and we have plenty of time to do that.

When you’re coming through the pack like that and you get into it with JuJu [Beaumer] a little bit, brake-checking and standing each other up, is that something that you have to mentally reset from or do you enjoy that?

Yeah, I was laughing. That was pretty funny. I was like, ‘You’re holding me up, bro.’ And yeah, we just messed around for a little and took off and started charging towards Cole [Davies]. But Cole was riding really well. He kind of struggled during those first two races. So that’s cool. See if he could back it up in the third one. But yeah, I got by and just started charging towards the front.