Cole Davies gets the win at AMA 250SX E/W Showdown – Haiden Deegan proves he is the fastest rider on the track

Cole Davies gets the win at AMA 250SX E/W Showdown – Haiden Deegan proves he is the fastest rider on the track. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider’s not only backed up their respective Heat Race wins with steal-like performances in the Main but also proved Davies has all the makings of winning in only his 13th start in the 250SX class while Deegan bomb-dropped his dog-like fight demeanor to carve through the field and take the chequered with fans cheering track-side.

Even taking into consideration the switch-back of positions – with Deegan docked a place for a track infringement and Davies gaining the win – this 250SX East/West class of rider’s are the best on the planet. With Deegan setting a bets lap-time of 52.604 relative to 450SX rider – Eli Tomac’s best lap-time of 52.396 – coupled with the top 5 rider’s finishing within 7 seconds of the winner and lappers were a full 15 positions down – the level of competition has to ranked as high as it has ever been.

On closer analysis of track sector times it is possible to clarify where rider’s gained advantage or not over 19 laps in the Main. Both Davies and Deegan set their fastest lap times in Lap 8 hitting 52.610 and 52.606 respectively, while 3rd place rider – Seth Hammaker – clocked his best lap time of 53.113 in Lap 7. Defending SMX Champion – Jo Shimoda – waited until Lap 12 to post 53.020 while Levi Kitchen who grabbed the hole-shot set his best lap time of 53.188 in Lap 3, though dropped 4 positions finishing 5th overall.

So, where did the main rivalries take place – how did Deegan manage to charge his way from 11th at the hole-shot to win – then relegated to 2nd – and how did Davies hold 2nd to 1st then 2nd to 1st on a slick, deteriorating clay based rocky track? With Davies out front from Lap 1 to Lap 15, Deegan was making ground from 10th to 6th by Lap 7 and by Lap 8 the ante was up another notch with sector 3 proving Deegan’s weapon against Davies going 15.900 compared to Cole’s 16.320. By Laps 10 through to 15 when Haiden made the pass on Davies – the 250SX West Red Plate rider closed the gap in sectors 4, 1, 2, and 6.

With 250SX East racing next weekend at Detroit followed by #2 E/W Showdown at St Louis on April 4, odds are racing will be downright exciting for rider’s, Teams, Media, fans, and followers alike.

Header photo: Cole Davies racing AMA 250SX E/W Showdown at Birmingham. Image: Team.

Words: Sharon Cox.