Haiden Deegan Finishes Third Overall at Unadilla
Pro Motocross 450 rookie Haiden Deegan keeps stacking up podiums, with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Justin Cooper returning to racing with a top-10 finish / Aug 18, 2026 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan picked up where he left off before the summer break, grabbing another holeshot and putting together two strong motos to keep his podium streak rolling with third overall in New Berlin, New York. The Unadilla National was also a sort of homecoming for Justin Cooper. The New Yorker returned to racing after being sidelined for most of the Pro Motocross season and had a good showing in front of the home crowd with ninth overall. Overcoming a tough start to the day, Cooper Webb rallied in the second moto to end the day 12th overall.
As the outdoor season resumed in Central New York, riders were met with tough conditions at Unadilla MX. Deegan once again showed speed from the start and had two good qualifying sessions, ending up fourth in the combined times. The rookie then fired the first shot when the gate dropped, grabbing the holeshot aboard his YZ450F. He led the opening lap and held down second for another five laps, but as the race wore on, he dropped back to fourth.
In Moto 2, Deegan didn’t get the same start and found himself seventh, but wasted little time moving forward. He charged to fourth by Lap 3 and continued to throw down fast laps as he closed the gap to the riders ahead. Deegan moved into third around mid-moto and rode on to finish there for his 10th moto podium in the 450 class, securing third overall, which marked his sixth overall podium of the season
“Unadilla was good,” said Deegan. “This place was a bit of a struggle for me in the past, so to be able to pull off a third today, I’m pretty happy with it. Overall, it’s good. We’ve got a good podium streak going. Obviously, we’re chasing that moto win, so we’re working hard. We’ll keep on doing it. We’ve got another round coming up next week, so we’ll just keep going for it.”
In his first race back since his injury at the Hangtown National, Cooper quickly got back up to speed at Unadilla, qualifying fifth and getting a top-five start to Moto 1. He was shuffled back to seventh on the opening lap and then another spot before the halfway mark. Cooper continued to push and regained seventh, but ultimately finished eighth. In Moto 2, the New Yorker once again got a good start in fifth and fought for a top-10 result, but dropped back to 12th in the latter half of the moto, ending the day ninth overall with his 8-12 moto scores.
“Unadilla is gnarly,” said Cooper. “It was a really tough day, but I was just glad to be back and get some gate drops in. The track was really tough. It was really slippery, really hard-packed, and with a lot of potholes. We were running a scoop, so it was a lot to take in, and we had to keep it smooth out there. We finished in the top 10 overall – we'll take that. I’m just glad to be back at the races. We'll take it one race at a time.”
It was an up-and-down day for Webb at Unadilla. After qualifying 19th, the day got even tougher when the North Carolina rider went down on the sighting lap ahead of Moto 1. Despite the setback, Webb got a good start in sixth. He was shuffled back to 11th in the opening laps and continued to fight for a top-10 result despite damage to his bike from his crash, but ultimately dropped back to 12th.
Webb had more work to do in Moto 2 after a bad start left him 19th on the opening lap. In true Webb fashion, he put his head down and started working his way through the field. The three-time 450SX Champion picked up the pace as the moto wore on, setting his fastest lap around the halfway mark and then making his way into the top 10. He continued to ride a strong pace to finish 10th, ending the day 12th overall.
“It was an up-and-down day,” said Webb. “Practice was pretty bad for your boy. I was struggling out there and wasn’t really flowing very well. We made a change over the break that we thought was a good direction, but we went the wrong way a little bit, so we went back. Then I actually had a pretty bad crash on the sight lap, and my bike was pretty mangled. We had to get it fixed real quick, but it was still kind of mangled for the race, so that was a pretty solid moto considering. Then in Moto 2, I had a terrible start. I flinched on the start and got buried, but I actually rode really well. That was one of my better rides. I caught that group from around fifth to 10th and ended up 10th. The overall wasn’t great, but I was happy with that Moto 2 ride, and now I’ve got my home race at Budds Creek coming up.”
“Haiden’s qualifying went pretty well,” said Rich Simmons, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s 450 Team Manager. “There was a tight group in that top four, so it was good to see him have speed in both sessions again. Then he got another holeshot in the first moto, which was good to see. He got a little tight and lost the pace, so we made a small bike change for Moto 2. Credit to him, he didn’t get a great start, but he worked straight through the pack and caught that lead group. We’ll just keep chipping away at it.
“Qualifying wasn't great for Webb, and he had that little mishap on the sighting lap, but in Moto 2, that’s the strongest I’ve seen him throughout a whole moto. The times he put in coming through the pack and all the way to the end – there were a lot of positives there.
“For Justin’s first race back, we knew it was going to be about getting back into racing. There were no expectations, but I thought he had a good pace for a while in the first moto, and qualifying fifth was good. We’ll just keep building with him and getting him back into race shape for SMX.”
With two rounds remaining before the SMX World Championship Playoffs, all three Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing riders sit inside the top 10 in the combined 450 SMX points. Webb holds the runner-up spot, Cooper sits eighth, and despite racing the 250 class during Supercross, Deegan has climbed to 10th on the strength of his rookie 450MX campaign.
Next up is the Budds Creek National in Mechanicsville, Maryland, on August 22 – the penultimate round of Pro Motocross and Round 27 of the SuperMotocross World Championship.