For many purists, the switch to electric cars marks the beginning of the end for motorsport. Brian Deegan may be a purist, but he doesn’t share the doom and gloom outlook.
Deegan was one of a clutch of action sports converts that moved into four-wheeled motorsport at the beginning of the 2010s, racing in X Games’ Rally Car Racing and Rallycross events, as well as the Global Rallycross series they spawned. He last raced in that arena in 2016, winning on his final appearance at the Port of L.A.
“I went over and raced rallycross in Europe, in Finland and Sweden. I thought it was badass,” he tells RACER. “Europe loves rallycross and I was just hoping America would grab onto it, and I feel like we just struggled with having the right promoter.”
Since then, rallycross in the U.S. transitioned from GRC to the IMG-led Americas Rallycross series, before Nitrocross arrived – a whole new take on the formula from the mind of Travis Pastrana, with 1,000 horsepower electric cars and more extreme tracks with bigger jumps and banked turns and, crucially, high profile backing from a group that includes UFC’s Dana White.
“Anything Travis gets behind, it’s going to be good,” Deegan says. “And now he partnered with the right guys as far as with Dana White, and I feel like they can make it happen.”
Deegan made his Nitrocross bow in Arizona last month with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC, coming back for more in December at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California. He’s made steady progress in the four championship rounds he’s run at those two events, from missing the final on his debut to taking seventh on his most recent appearance.
“I feel like they’re kind of the same to drive, but the batteries are low, they’re heavy, they’re in the rear of the car, it makes the car really want to understeer more so you’ve got to drive with a different style and technique,” Deegan says of the differences between the cars of yesterday and today. “It’s been two race weekends now, but it’s taken me two weekends to figure it out because the cars handle so different.
“But I don’t know, it’s not so much about the car, it’s about the event. It’s about can they make it work? Can they bring money to this event? And I feel like you need manufacturers to bring money.”
The vast majority of Deegan’s rallycross outings came during a boom in manufacturer interest. He drove for Ford, with factory backing, while Dodge, Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, and Volkswagen all had works presences between 2011-17, too. Nowadays, the premier class is a single make formula, but there has been manufacturer interest – RACER knows that several are keen to get involved imminently, but are each waiting for one to make the first move before entering.
“I still feel like you need to get the manufacturers involved if you really want it to be like NASCAR level, and I think maybe it can get there,” Deegan says. “I’m not stuck on one way or the other. I like the old school rallycross cars to be honest, that’s just me, but the new electric rallycross cars… hopefully they open some more horizons, more doors, more budgets.”
There’s often calls from fans for Nitrocross to ‘bring back Supercars’ – the two-liter turbocharged 600 horsepower fire-breathing monsters that raced previously. While running costs between the gas and electric cars are comparable, the unit cost for the cars are around half of what the top factory-developed Supercars were at the peak of their powers. Add in the fact that there are only three recent-spec Supercars in the U.S. (Subaru’s three from 2021), and that manufacturers are unwilling to develop expensive ICE race cars for a niche series, there is no chance of them returning.
But Deegan doesn’t see that as a bad thing, necessarily. What’s more, he thinks it can help transform races into festival-like events that can be embraced by a wider audience.
“I think good racing is good racing. Why’s it always got to be old school?” he muses. “Things can change. You can have cool bands and music festivals and all that stuff going on. The cars, it might be a good thing about the cars being like that, at the end of the day you have to be smart to figure out how to turn it into an entertaining festival. Entertaining is what it’s all about.
“Obviously diehard racers, I get it. Been there, done it. But in the end it’s about putting on a good show, and if they can figure out how to keep the crowd entertained the whole time, I think it’s fine.
“I just think, you have your diehards, ‘oh no, gas and motors ‘til we die’, and I get it dude, I’m the same way. I love a thousand horsepower engine, the sound of it, it’s awesome, but there’s a new generation coming.”
Deegan’s clearly a fan of what Nitrocross is doing, so does that mean he’s plotting a full-time comeback? He responds to the question with a laugh.
“Well, once the series starts paying a million dollars to win, then I’ll come back,” he jokes. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I do it because it’s fun. I’ve already done my deal in racing, took it super-serious, focused and we won a lot of races but now I’m focused on my kids’ supercross, Hailie’s NASCAR, Hayden’s doing really good, just won the championship in Supercross this year at a young age, and Hudson’s coming up, he’s still 13 so I’ve got the family aspect.
“I just never wanted to be that dad that’s still fighting to win a trophy. I want my kids to have their chance now, but if there’s dates off, open dates, and I can come in and race, dude, for sure. I love it, love to support the sport, love the seat time, love to bring in the sponsors and the entertainment value and anything Travis is doing, I’ll support it. We’re all cut from the same cloth so I’m down to help support what he’s doing and have fun along the way. I like it, you’re in a roll cage, it’s fairly safe.”
It was then put to him that the season finale in Las Vegas takes place on the same weekend NASCAR is in town next March, opening up the potential for a father-daughter showdown. Haillie’s apparently, interested in giving Nitrocross a go at some point, but would prefer to have some testing time beforehand – a luxury her father didn’t get to enjoy.
“The issue is all these guys that race these cars – and I’m jumping in mid-season – they’re all switched on. They don’t make a lot of mistakes at all,” he says. “It’s very tough for someone just to jump in and beat these guys. And even to be competitive and save face and not look bad. So I think Hailie would need to do a lot of testing. She’s only driven rear-wheel-drive cars, she’s never really raced an all-wheel-drive car so I think she would need some time to do it.
“I think she can do it, she’s a good driver, but you can’t just jump in these. I think even a good rally driver from Europe coming over and just jumping in, I’d be very surprised if they could win.”