Deegan Dominates Again - Secures Consecutive Victory at Hangtown!

The hottest motocross racer on the planet right now, Monster Energy’s Haiden Deegan (Star Racing/Yamaha), kept his undefeated streak going in the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross Championship through two rounds (4-0 in four motos), winning the Michael’s Reno Powersports Hangtown Motocross Classic in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on Saturday and increasing his overall series points lead to 12 points (100-88) ahead of Honda’s Jo Shimoda.

“I woke up pretty sick, my throat’s shot. But I dunno – this sport’s mental, man. That’s all. You’ve gotta work hard and that’s basically what I do,” said Deegan. 

Joining Deegan on the 250 class podium at Hangtown with a solid 3-3 performance was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen. Then rounding out the top ten in the 250 class for Monster Energy were Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Garrett Marchbanks and Ty Masterpool in 5^th and 8^th positions, respectively, with Star Racing/Yamaha’s Michael Mosiman placing 10^th.

In the 450 class, Monster Energy’s Eli Tomac (Star Racing/Yamaha) put an end to Jett Lawrence’s (Honda) undefeated career moto win streak as he topped the defending MX Nationals champ on the opening moto, straight up, and tracked down KTM’s Aaron Plessinger with two laps to go to take the victory. But a mishap at the start of the 450 Moto 2 would help cost Tomac the overall (4^th at 1-9), though his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha teammate Justin Cooper would step it up on his end, placing 2^nd in Moto 2 (matching his career best moto finish) and scoring his first career MX Nationals 450 class overall podium (3^rd).

“First of all, two good starts today and the team did a great job of adapting to the track,” said Cooper following the race. 

Rounding out the top ten in 450 class scoring at Hangtown for Monster Energy were defending 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross champion Cooper Webb (Star Racing/Yamaha) in 6^th, with Kawasaki teammates Jason Anderson (8^th) and Jorge Prado (9^th).

Also… In WMX action at Hangtown Monster Energy-backed Mikayla “Kay Kay” Neilsen (Honda) would place 2^nd at Hangtown (3-2), with her Monster Energy counterpart, the Aussie women’s MX champion Carli Cannon (Honda), also making overall podium with another double podium finish (2-3). And finishing just off the box, in 4^th position, was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Kyleigh Stallings (4-4).

Overall Standings (2 of 11 rounds)

Notes & Quotes

• Added Tomac of his Moto 2 race: “Bad luck on the start. I got hit by the guy next to me outside the rut just past the gate. And then I made a mistake on my own when I was round 6^th or 7^th. Washed my front end out. That did in the day for me.”
• Due to a number of injuries in recent years, Tomac’s opening moto win at Hangtown was the 4-time MX champion’s first moto victory in 1,000 days.
• “He had the starts on.” – NBC Sports’ announcer James Stewart on Cooper’s double holeshot day at Hangtown.
• Hot as heck at Hangtown. An estimated 105 degrees trackside at race time. So hot, in fact, the AMA shortened the normal 30 minutes motos (plus two laps) to 25 minutes, plus two.
• “Thank my mom. My dad. They sacrifice everything for me.” – Deegan from the podium.
• “I just had to kick my butt into gear. I fought hard today. I can get a little better.” – Kitchen
• Deegan also sent a message in qualifying, saying (after winning): “I usually don’t pop off in qualifying like this. But I had to this week after a rider shooed me off (the top spot). We had to send it today.”
• Hangtown has the status of being the longest running race on the MX Nationals schedule, celebrating its 56^thrunning of “The Hangtown Classic” on Saturday.

Up next: Round 3 of the 2025 Pro Motocross Championship chips up over the Rockies and lands at Lakewood, Colo.’s Thunder Valley MX Park for the Toyota Thunder Valley MX National, Saturday, June 7^th. For more information on the AMA Pro Motocross Championships, link to www.promotocross.com.