Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Sweeps 250MX Podium at RedBud
Haiden Deegan, Levi Kitchen, and Justin Cooper top the podium at the RedBud National with a stellar 1-2-3 finish aboard their Yamaha YZ250Fs / Jul 2, 2023 /
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan led a team sweep of yesterday’s Pro Motocross 250MX overall podium at the 50th running of the RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan. The Californian’s 2-3 moto score earned him a career- first overall victory in the championship and closed the gap to within 11 points of the championship leader. Adding to the stellar achievements of the day for the team, Levi Kitchen scored his first moto victory of the season and earned a runner-up overall finish (7-1). Rounding out the podium was Justin Cooper, who bounced back to end the day third overall with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Daxton Bennick enjoyed an impressive Pro Motocross debut, earning fastest qualifier honors and notching a top-10 finish with a 10-9 score.
Deegan had a solid qualifying effort in sixth and then got a great start in the first moto and slotted into the runner-up spot. He rode a strong pace to maintain that position for his fourth moto podium of the season. In Moto 2, Deegan grabbed the holeshot. He was passed by his teammate on that opening lap, but the 17-year-old continued to ride his own race. In the final laps, he was shuffled to third and rode on to secure his first Pro Motocross victory at the revered American motocross venue in Michigan. Deegan also made championship gains to close the gap to 11 points as the series approaches the halfway mark
His teammate Kitchen struggled a bit to start the day and qualified 12th. He didn’t get the start he was hoping for in the first moto and was 17th after the first lap. Undeterred, the Washington State rider put his head down and made his way through to seventh. Kitchen came back swinging and got a much better start in the second moto and slotted into the runner-up spot behind Deegan. He quickly moved into the lead and then put in some consistently fast laps to remain unchallenged and cross the line with nearly a nine-second lead. Kitchen’s first moto win of the season earned him the runner-up spot on the all-Yamaha podium
Coming back after being sidelined with a vicious get-off in qualifying at the previous round at High Point, Cooper rebounded at RedBud. The New Yorker returned to the top of the timesheets in the A Group’s second qualifying session and was ultimately second in the combined times. In the first moto, he found himself seventh after the first lap but kept pushing, and made his way to fifth. Unfortunately, on Lap 6, he had a tip-over right before the infamous LaRocco’s leap and rejoined in seventh. He put his head down once again and made his way back up to fourth. Cooper got a better start in the second moto inside the top five and rode to another fourth-place finish to join his teammates on the podium with third overall.
Rounding out the top 10 was Daxton Bennick, who made his Pro Motocross debut at RedBud. The 17-year-old from Morganton, North Carolina, hit the ground running, topping the first session of the day in the 250MX B Group. Bennick’s top time held up, making him the fastest qualifier in the class for an impressive start in the pro ranks. He then got a good start in ninth and made his way up to seventh, ultimately crossing the line 10th in what was his first time running a 30-minute-plus-two-lap moto. Although Bennick didn’t get a good start in the second moto, he put his head down and made his way from 15th to ninth, ending the day 10th overall
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team hits the sand next weekend at The Wick 338 for round six of the Pro Motocross Championship and the 23rd round of the SuperMotocross World Championship in Southwick, Massachusetts, on July 8.
Jensen Hendler – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager“RedBud went fantastic! There’s nothing better than sweeping the podium at the biggest race of the series. Haiden ended up first overall with 2-3 scores. Levi was second overall with 7-1 scores, and Justin finished third with a pair of fourths. Also, this was Daxton Bennick’s first pro race, and after bringing the heat in practice and qualifying first, he ended up getting 10th overall with 10-9 finishes. It was an incredible day for the team. This championship is far from over, and we will continue to fight for wins with everyone on the team.”
Haiden Deegan – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing“It was a big day. Qualifying went pretty well, and we were able to get a good gate pick. I realized that here at this track, a good place to start would be on the inside, but everyone was going to go down there. So I picked a good gate and got a second-place start in the first one and finished second. That’s a good finish, so I was hyped about that. In the second moto, I pulled the holeshot, and Levi and I were P1 and P2 for most of the race. Then in those last couple of laps, (Tom) Vialle got me, and I ended the day with a 2-3 for the overall win. Consistency was key in this race, and it paid off. So yeah, first overall win at RedBud and an American P1; I’m pretty hyped about that.”
Levi Kitchen - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing“It was a good day at RedBud. Qualifying was okay, and then my first moto wasn’t the greatest. I got a bad start and worked my way up to seventh. I needed to turn it around for the second one, and I got a good start and passed Haiden pretty early. Then I got a pretty good gap up front and rode it in for the win. I’m pretty happy with the day, and I’m going to take this momentum into Southwick.”
Justin Cooper - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing“I would say overall it was a really good day – the speed was there even though the starts weren’t. I had to work my way through the pack quite a few times and made some passes. I think if we got off the gate better, we could have done more damage, but that’s all we could do today – a 4-4. I definitely tired myself out, making passes in Moto 1, falling, and then making the passes again. Moto 2 wasn’t special, but yeah, it’s a good weekend coming off of what happened at High Point. Now we can start building back to where we were before it.”
Daxton Bennick - Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing“It was a good first pro race. I came into the weekend with no expectations, really. I was in the B Group for qualifying, so I knew the track was going to be good, and I took advantage of it and qualified first, which was pretty cool. I knew the motos were going to be a challenge and long, but I got a pretty good start that first moto and ended up 10th. Then in the second moto, I did not get a good start, and I had to fight hard through the pack and ended up ninth. So 10-9 on the day; I’m really happy with how I rode.”
2023 Pro Motocross 250MX RedBud Resultshttp://www.americanmotocrossresults.com/xml/MX/events/M2325/M2F2PRESS.pdf
2023 Pro Motocross 250MX Results Championship Standingshttp://www.americanmotocrossresults.com/xml/MX/events/M2325/M2F2POINTSPOSITION.pdf
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