American motorcycle racer
Brian Deegan
|
---|
Deegan in 2011 after winning the Pro Light class at the 2011 Off-Road Racing
World Championships
|
Born
| (
1974-05-09
)
May 9, 1974
(age 50)
|
---|
Nationality
| American
|
---|
Height
| 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
|
---|
Spouse
|
Marissa Deegan
(
m.
2003)
|
---|
Children
| 3
|
---|
|
|
Debut season
| 2011
|
---|
Current team
| Chip Ganassi Racing
|
---|
Car number
| 38
|
---|
Former teams
| Olsbergs MSE
|
---|
Starts
| 42
|
---|
Wins
| 2
|
---|
Podiums
| 18
|
---|
Best finish
| 2nd in
2012
|
---|
Finished last season
| 10th
|
---|
|
|
Brian Deegan
(born May 9, 1974
[1]
) is an American professional
freestyle motocross
rider and racing driver.
Deegan was the first to land a 360 in a freestyle motocross competition. With a total of 16 X Games medals across multiple disciplines, he one of the most decorated athletes in
X Games
history. Of his 16 total medals, 12 of them are in motocross and 4 of them are in rally car racing.
A co-founder of the
Metal Mulisha
[1]
clothing line, Deegan is one of the most recognizable names in action sports. In the 2010’s, Deegan transitioned to rallycross in the Global Rallycross Championship and off-road trucks in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Championship series. In 2010, Deegan earned double silver in Rally Car Racing and RallyCross. In 2011, he took RallyCross gold and came back to earn bronze in 2012.
Racing career
[
edit
]
Deegan became a pro supercross rider with Team Moto XXX at age 17. In 1997 at the LA Coliseum, Deegan won the 125cc main and ghost rode his bike across the finish line. This was the beginning of what we know today as Freestyle Motocross.
In 2004, at the Winter X Games, Deegan crashed while attempting a twisting backflip 360 over a 100 ft (30 m) snow double, breaking his
femur
and both wrists. He came back 6 months later to place fourth at the Summer X Games.
Switching to
four wheels
in 2009, Deegan ventured into short course off-road racing in the
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
' Unlimited Lites division. He ultimately won the championship over more experienced off-road drivers.
[2]
At the 2010 X Games, Deegan competed in the Rally Car event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He finished second behind Tanner Foust after making a wrong turn during the race. He also competed in Rally Car Super Rally, again finishing second behind Tanner Foust.
At X Games XVII, Deegan won gold in RallyCross.
In 2011, he won the World Championship race at
Crandon International Off-Road Raceway
in the
Traxxas TORC Series
. He also won the Pro Lite Unlimited and Pro 2 class championships in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. In addition, he represented the U.S. with teammate
Travis Pastrana
in the
Race of Champions (ROC)
competition held in Germany. ROC is an international competition that invites top drivers from around the world to compete in a series of different racing events.
In 2012, he debuted the Metal Mulisha
Monster truck
. Todd LeDuc officially debuted it at
Reliant Stadium
in
Houston, Texas
in January 2012. Deegan drove the truck in
Phoenix, Arizona
at
Chase Field
. Deegan also won his second championship in the Pro 2 class of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
Deegan raced an
OlsbergsMSE
Ford Fiesta
in the
Global RallyCross Championship
, earning runner-up in 2012, fourth in 2013 and 12th in 2014. He also continued his Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series career, winning the Pro Light Unlimited championship in 2013 and the Pro 2 championship in 2014. In 2015, Deegan was hired by
Chip Ganassi Racing
to compete in seven Global Rallycross Championship races in an
M-Sport
Fiesta along with former professional motocross rider
Jeff Ward
.
[3]
Media appearances
[
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]
During a 2005 taping of
MTV
's
Viva La Bam
, Deegan under-rotated a back-flip and suffered a strong impact from the handle bars in his midsection, almost losing his life. He lost a
kidney
, lacerated his
spleen
, and lost a significant amount of blood. He now has a long scar down his stomach, that he calls his "zipper", spanning almost his entire abdomen, as a result of the accident. At the end of the episode when it originally aired, Bam dedicated it to Brian. The accident was cut out of the show.
In 2006, Deegan and Berkela films released a film entitled
Disposable Hero
that follows him through the struggles and rewards that accompany the freestyle motocross sport and lifestyle. Jesse James, Ronnie Faisst,
Jeremy Stenberg
, Cameron Steele, Chris Ackerman,
Nate Adams
, and Seth Enslow are a few of the featured cast that talk about Deegan and his life's journeys. The film aired on
Spike TV
on December 5, 2007.
Deegan performed stunts in the movie
Fantastic Four
.
He has been on the cover of
Transworld MX
and
Racer X
magazines and has been featured multiple times in
FHM
magazine.
Deegan is in the video game
Freekstyle
for
Game Boy Advance
,
GameCube
, and
PlayStation 2
. He also appears in the 2000 game
Supercross
for the
PlayStation
.
In 2018, Deegan was the subject of the documentary
Blood Line: The Life and Times of Brian Deegan
.
[4]
Other ventures
[
edit
]
In addition to supporting riders, the Metal Mulisha has a clothing line and other related merchandise. Deegan also has a toy line called Hevy Hitters distributed in retail locations such as
Walmart
. Most recently he teamed up with Illektron to create Battlez FMX, a collectible card and dice game featuring Deegan, Todd Potter and
Jeremy Lusk
.
He is the former owner of the FMX park, the Compound, which he later sold to
Nate Adams
. At the 2007 X Games Deegan stated he sometimes regrets selling it.
Personal life
[
edit
]
He has been married to Marissa Deegan since 2003. Together, they have three children:
Hailie
, who currently competes full-time in the
NASCAR Xfinity Series
driving for AM Racing;
Haiden
, who was recently signed to Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing as a amateur/pro rider; and Hudson, who competes in youth motocross.
Deegan became a
born-again Christian
after a near-fatal crash in 2005.
[5]
Career highlights
[
edit
]
- 1997 Los Angeles Supercross 125cc ? 1st place
- 1999 World Freestyle Champ
- 2000 Air MX Champ
- 2000 Bluetorch Ride and Slide FMX Champ
- 2003 Featured Rider on Tony Hawk tour
- 2003 EXPN Rider of the year nominee
- First to land a 360 in an FMX competition
- 2004 ESPY award nominee
- Holds the 2nd most medals in FMX X Games history: 12 medals
- 2004 ESPN top 100 athlete of all sports
- 2007 Winner Best Biography X Dance Action Sports Film Festival for Brian Deegan: Disposable Hero
- 2009 Awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award At The Transworld Motocross Awards In Las Vegas.
- 1 gold and 5 medals at the X Games rally events.
- 2nd at the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship.
- 4th at the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship.
- 2009, 2011 and 2013
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series
Pro Lite Unlimited champion
- 2011, 2012 and 2014 Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro 2 Unlimited champion
- 2011 World Championship race winner in the Pro Light truck class
- 2022 Summit Racing Freedom 500 race winner at the Freedom Factory
Racing record
[
edit
]
Complete Global RallyCross Championship results
[
edit
]
Supercar
[
edit
]
?See TfM?
†
Race cancelled.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Brian Deegan." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit:
Gale
, 2004. Gale Biography In Context. Web. August 6, 2012.
ISBN
9780787666286
- ^
"Brian Deegan Wins Off-Road Championship"
. Racer X Online. November 16, 2009. Archived from
the original
on November 20, 2009
. Retrieved
January 2,
2010
.
- ^
McFadin, Daniel (March 18, 2015).
"Chip Ganassi Racing enters world of Global Rallycross"
.
NBC Sports
. Retrieved
March 20,
2015
.
- ^
"
"Blood Line: The Life and Times of Brian Deegan" now available"
(Press release). Racer X Online. October 16, 2018
. Retrieved
April 23,
2020
.
- ^
Higgins, Matt (August 2, 2009).
"Some X Games Bad Boys Turn to the Bible"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 1,
2009
.
External links
[
edit
]