Welcome to Gearhead Operations weekly observations! This is your, most likely by now, favorite Gearhead Ryan Roberts back at it again with hot takes from Detroit Supercross!
Looking back at Detroit and Indy shows why this is the greatest sport in the world and why I am such a fan. The ups and downs from Indianapolis and Detroit couldn't be more polar opposite. One weekend I was extremely pumped for seeing Ken Roczen win again on a bike that a lot of people doubted could win a race, the next weekend I think I am about to see an amazing first victory from one of the sports favorite riders, then came the unpredictability of this sport. While seemingly under virtually no pressure, Aaron Plessinger loses focus for a split second and is tossed off the bike like Roman hitting the "Ejecto-seato-cuz" in Fast and the Furious 6 on him.
That fall enabled Chase Sexton to get his second win of the season and was on the podium celebrating while Plessinger was giving a heartfelt interview with Jason Thomas. While Plessinger was giving his interview you could tell it took everything in him to 1: not curse up a storm that would make a sailor blush, and 2: not break down crying in the moment.
For the record, that makes two grown men breaking down crying in back-to-back weeks for wildly different scenarios. At the moment, I cannot recall another sport that can do this in such a short span of time. One rider getting redemption and exude tears of joy in the victory, and the other just seven days later streaming tears in the agony of defeat.
One thing that I did witness this weekend, that I had only heard rumors of but had not witnessed, was that of the Deegan Army. This army came racing to defend their favorite rider Haiden Deegan, and they came fierce at anyone who dared question Haiden's move on fellow teammate Jordan Smith. While the Deegan Army sharpens their spears and lancets, let me start this discussion off by saying, I have been a racer and fan of the sport for my entire life. I have made the transformation from becoming a fan of riders to fan of the sport in its entirety. There are riders that I enjoy seeing win more than others for various reason. I enjoy watching AP win because he has a fun personality; watching riders like Justin Martin do well makes me happy just because I have seen the struggles that guy has had over the years, but I am not particularly a "fan" of any individual rider. With that out of the way, Deegan has some maturing to do and that is completely understandable for a seventeen-year-old. Since I know this article is on his home page for things to read, there are some unwritten rules that teams have for their riders that he needs to be aware of. The first rule of that is "do not take out your teammate." Especially, do not take out your teammate at the very beginning of a somewhat meaningless heat race when both of you are well within qualifying position.
I firmly believe Deegan would have beat Jordon Smith in that heat race and what he did was completely unnecessary. Jordon would have probably let him by if he knew Deegan was going to take it to that level. Deegan could have easily bent a rotor or blown out spokes in that tussle and he would have been in the exact same position Smith ended up in. It just isn't smart racing to push it like that in a heat race. Justin Martin was almost laughing at the scene he witnessed in front of him during his victory speech after that heat race, commentating that they need to back it off for just a heat race. With all that hard racing, Deegan didn't even end up winning the heat race and caused his team mate to go to the last chance qualifier and eventually not qualify for the main event and lose a ton of points. No Deegan's move did not make Smith not qualify, but it was domino in a series of events that took place that led to him not qualifying.
Now having said that, I could not believe the reaction on social media that fans had on anyone who suggested that it wasn't smart on Deegan's part to do that. Wow! They are a passionate bunch and borderline extreme. Haiden Deegan is good for the sport and him having success is a good thing for the sport. His dad is also someone I enjoyed watching growing up. Brian always played the heel, and you need that for a sport, but Brian was also never a serious contender for a championship at the highest level. Haiden will be and he needs to watch what other champions do when it comes to racing rivals on the track. You will never see the likes of Tomac, Dungey, McGrath, Reed, or RC making permanent enemies on the track. This is why I can never take Barcia as a serious contender for a championship, and this is what haunted Anderson the past two years in pushing himself out of contention to win the whole thing. They too often make enemies on the track that take you out of races or positions. You need guys that will race you hard and respect you enough to not put you in row ten of the cheap seats when they are passing you in a title hunt.
With all that I witnessed on social media this weekend I am excited to see how Deegan Army reacts when Jordon gets his revenge, because you know it is coming and it will not be pretty!
