What Really Happened in St. Louis 2026?

Is Haiden Deegan ready for the 450? Okay, that was a rhetorical question. The now 2x 250 SX champion has nothing left to prove in the class. And as usual, he backed up the talk with an incredible performance. I would argue, Deegan displayed one of his best performances of dominance in his career last Saturday. Why?

He was the fastest guy on the track all day long: qualifying, heat, and main event. He flat-out smoked the field, 450s included.

Yes, the track evolves, so it’s never a perfect apples-to-apples comparison. But this is still hard to ignore. Deegan’s fastest lap in the 250 Main Event was quicker than the best laps from the 450 Main Event and both 450 Heat races, when the track was arguably in better shape. This is rare, even on rough tracks.

Haiden Deegan Lap Times vs. Top 450 Times

That alone raises eyebrows. But the real story is where he’s fast.

Let’s bench race: Deegan vs. Ken Roczen. When you line Deegan up directly against Roczen’s best Main Event lap, Deegan was faster around two-thirds of the track.

Bench Racing: Deegan vs. Roczen

Sector 5 stands out the most. No rhythm section. No whoops. Just raw speed and corner execution. Thats right. Deegan out drag raced a 450 on his smaller bike.

You can’t fully quantify corner speed with sector times alone, but the eye test backs it up. Deegan is carrying serious speed through the corners.

2026 St. Louis Track Map

And within his own class? It wasn’t even close.

Deegan went from 6th to 1st in six laps, then controlled the race. Before catching Davies, he was consistently in the 55s. After taking the lead and establishing a gap, he backed it down. Still, he ended with an average lap over a second faster than Davies, and nearly two seconds faster than Hammaker.

Haiden Deegan Lap Times Against the Top 250 Times

One last thought. If you drop Deegan’s main event laps into the 450 Main Event, even accounting for the same late race slowdown, he finishes 2nd.