Brian Deegan

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)
NationalityAmerican
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Spouse
Marissa Deegan
(m. 2003)
Children3, including Hailie
Global Rallycross career
Debut season2011
Current teamChip Ganassi Racing
Car number38
Former teamsOlsbergs MSE
Starts42
Wins2
Podiums18
Best finish2nd in 2012
Finished last season10th
Medal record
Summer X Games
Representing  United States
Gold medal – first place 2003 Los Angeles Moto X Big Air
Gold medal – first place 2011 Los Angeles RallyCross
Silver medal – second place 2006 Los Angeles Moto X Step Up
Silver medal – second place 2010 Los Angeles Rally Car Racing
Silver medal – second place 2010 Los Angeles Rally Car Super Rally
Bronze medal – third place 1999 San Francisco Moto X Freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2000 San Francisco Moto X Step Up
Bronze medal – third place 2000 San Francisco Moto X Freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Philadelphia Moto X Big Air
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Philadelphia Moto X Big Air
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Philadelphia Moto X Step Up
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Los Angeles Moto X Freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Los Angeles Rally Car Racing
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Los Angeles Moto X Step Up
Winter X Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Aspen Moto X Big Air
Gold medal – first place 2005 Aspen Moto X Best Trick
Gravity Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Providence Moto X Freestyle
Silver medal – second place 1999 Providence Moto X Freestyle

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 is one of the most decorated athletes in X Games history,[citation needed] with 12 in motocross and 4 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 2010s, 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

Deegan at X Games 17 in Los Angeles

Deegan became a professional supercross rider with Team Moto XXX at age 17. In 1997 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Deegan won the 125cc main and ghost rode his bike across the finish line.

In 2004, at the Winter X Games, Deegan crashed while attempting a twisting backflip 360 over a 100 ft (30 m) jump, landing on hard-packed snow and ice and breaking his femur and both wrists. He returned 6 months later to place fourth at the 2005 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 United States with teammate Travis Pastrana in the Race of Champions (ROC) competition held at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany.

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 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. 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

During a 2005 taping of MTV's Viva La Bam, Deegan under-rotated a backflip 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. While the accident was cut out of the show, Bam Margera dedicated the episode to Brian.

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

In addition to supporting riders, the Metal Mulisha has a clothing line and other related merchandise. Deegan also has a toy line called Heavy 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 that he sometimes regrets selling it.

Personal life

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]

X Games competition history

GOLD (4) SILVER (3) BRONZE (9)
YEAR X GAMES EVENTS RANK MEDAL
1999 Summer X Games V Moto X Freestyle 3rd
2000 Summer X Games VI Moto X Step Up 3rd
2000 Summer X Games VI Moto X Freestyle 3rd
2001 Winter X Games V Moto X Big Air 4th
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Freestyle 7th
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Step Up 7th
2001 Summer X Games VII Moto X Big Air 3rd
2002 Winter X Games VI Moto X Big Air 1st
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Freestyle 10th
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Step Up 3rd
2002 Summer X Games VIII Moto X Big Air 3rd
2003 Winter X Games VII Moto X Big Air Injured
2003 Summer X Games IX Moto X Step Up 10th
2003 Summer X Games IX Moto X Freestyle 3rd
2003 Summer X Games IX Moto X Big Air 1st
2004 Winter X Games VIII Moto X Best Trick Injured
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Best Trick 4th
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Step Up 4th
2004 Summer X Games X Moto X Freestyle 9th
2005 Winter X Games IX Moto X Best Trick 1st
2005 Summer X Games XI Moto X Step Up 4th
2006 Winter X Games X Moto X Best Trick 5th
2006 Summer X Games XII Moto X Best Trick 8th
2006 Summer X Games XII Moto X Step Up 2nd
2007 Summer X Games XIII Moto X Best Trick 8th
2007 Summer X Games XIII Moto X Step Up 2nd
2008 Summer X Games XIV Moto X Step Up 3rd
2009 Summer X Games XV Moto X Step Up 6th
2009 Summer X Games XV Rally Car Racing 4th
2010 Summer X Games XVI Rally Car Racing 2nd
2010 Summer X Games XVI Rally Car Super Rally 2nd
2011 Summer X Games XVII Moto X Step Up 4th
2011 Summer X Games XVII RallyCross 1st
2012 Summer X Games XVIII Moto X Step Up 3rd
2012 Summer X Games XVIII RallyCross 3rd
2013 X Games Munich 2013 Moto X Step Up 4th
2013 X Games Munich 2013 RallyCross 10th

Gravity Games

YEAR GRAVITY GAMES LOCATION EVENTS RANK MEDAL
1999 Gravity Games I Providence, Rhode Island Moto X Freestyle 2nd
2000 Gravity Games II Providence, Rhode Island Moto X Freestyle 1st
2001 Gravity Games III Providence, Rhode Island Moto X Freestyle 8th

Career highlights

  • 1997 Los Angeles Supercross 125cc – 1st place
  • 1999 World Freestyle Champ
  • 2000 Air MX Champ
  • 2000 Bluetorch Ride and Slide FMX Champ
  • At the 2002 Winter X Games, Deegan pulled off the Mandatory Suicide (Super Can to Side Saddle Lander), its named after his favorite band Slayer and wins his first ever Winter X Games Gold medal.
  • 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
  • At the 2004 Winter X Games, Deegan tried to pull off the 360 over the 90-foot ice gap, but broke both of his wrists, he has 7 screws and 1 steel plate in his left femur and blacked out from the pain.
  • 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

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

Supercar

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 GRC Points
2011 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta IRW1
IRW2
SEA1
SEA2
PIK1
3
PIK2
8
LA1
10
LA2
1
9th 54
2012 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta CHA
16
TEX
3
LA
3
LOU
3
LV
2
LVC
2
2nd 84
2013 Olsbergs MSE Ford Fiesta ST BRA
5
MUN1
7
MUN2
9
LOU
3
BRI
3
IRW
7
ATL
6
CHA
2
LV
13
4th 106
2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta ST BAR
3
AUS
8
DC
NY
CHA
9
DAY
LA1
LA2
SEA
3
LV
9
12th 140
2015 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST FTA
DAY1
DAY2
MCAS
10
DET1
4
DET2
5
DC
LA1
6
LA2
2
BAR1
6
BAR2
9
LV
5
10th 229
2016 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST PHO1
3
PHO2
6
DAL
7
DAY1
2
DAY2
5
MCAS1
2
MCAS2 DC
4
AC
3
SEA
7
LA1
4
LA2
1
3rd 473

Race cancelled.

References

  1. ^ a b "Brian Deegan." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Gale Biography In Context. Web. August 6, 2012. ISBN 9780787666286
  2. ^ "Brian Deegan Wins Off-Road Championship". Racer X Online. November 16, 2009. Archived from the original on November 20, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  3. ^ McFadin, Daniel (March 18, 2015). "Chip Ganassi Racing enters world of Global Rallycross". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  4. ^ ""Blood Line: The Life and Times of Brian Deegan" now available" (Press release). Racer X Online. October 16, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  5. ^ Higgins, Matt (August 2, 2009). "Some X Games Bad Boys Turn to the Bible". The New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2009.